


Music to the Max

by RiverRaySong



Category: The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: F/F, F/M, I know my bad, Jay needs to figure out his feelings, Lloyd's twin sister, M/M, Master of Music, Nya is pretty heckin lesbian, Skylor is a prick, So is my OC, Suicidal Thoughts, and then it's like she isn't there at others, but then I realized my other OC was named Lily, so sadly no Li-luh-ly jokes, so she'll just say something at random times, suicidal character, when writing this I often forgot about her, yeah her name was gonna be Lilly, yeah it would've been great, yeah she's in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24727060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverRaySong/pseuds/RiverRaySong
Summary: *TW: Suicidal character* Leah Garmadon is the twin sister of Lloyd Garmadon, but she isn't a ninja and doesn't have an element. Eventually, though, she's drafted into the Secret Ninja Force anyway, becoming the Music Ninja. Hopefully, being a ninja and falling in love with her best friend Nya can save Leah from her own suicidal thoughts.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker, Kai/Skylor (Ninjago), Nya (Ninjago)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. "Bad Blood"

Leah Garmadon was the daughter of Lord Garmadon, and she had a twin brother named Lloyd. They lived with their mother, Misako aka Koko, in Ninjago City on the island called Ninjago. They were both in high school- they were about to turn sixteen- and they had five friends. The rest of the world hated them very much, since their father was Lord Garmadon.

Their five friends were named Jay, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Nya. The boys- Jay, Kai, Cole, and Zane- were all sixteen like the twins, whereas Nya was fifteen. Together, every one of the friends was a part of the Secret Ninja Force, except for Leah. The other six all harnessed elements- Lightning, Fire, Earth, Ice, Water, and Green- but Leah didn’t have an element, although she liked to call herself the Music Ninja. She was never without her IPod, and every moment of the day she was listening to music. Leah didn’t care that she wasn’t a ninja, and she knew even if she did she’d never become one.

The Secret Ninja Force were the protectors of Ninjago City, and almost every week they stopped Lord Garmadon from taking over the place. He was a four-armed man with an army that was nicknamed the ‘Shark Army’, since all the troops and vehicles were themed around the sea. Their secret base- er, ‘secret’- was in an active volcano off the coast of Ninjago.

The group of friends all went to the same high school and everyone there hated them. This was because Lloyd and Leah were the children of Lord Garmadon, and everyone hated their father. Jay, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Nya suffered too because they were the twos’ friends. They were nicknamed the ‘Dork Squad’.

This is the story of Leah and Lloyd.

********************

Today was the first day of school, and Leah was not happy about it. She _loved_ the summer- every day she would go on walks and listen to her favorite soundtracks. Sometimes she would go to the playground and sometimes she’d end up in the center of Ninjago City. It usually depended on what music she was listening to- a walk to the center of Ninjago City meant she was listening to _Welcome to New York_ , and a walk to a playground meant she was listening to _Through the Eyes of a Child_.

But that was not going to be the way anymore. Leah would have to go to school every weekday until two in the afternoon, and only after school could she go on her exploratory walks. She’d also have to balance her amazing walks with spending time with her friends.

Hm, if only there was a way to make them realize walks weren’t extremely boring.

In the current moment Leah was boarding the school bus since the last day of school, before summer. Her earbuds were in like every other day of the year, she was wearing a purple shirt with a black leather jacket and black pants that were shredded at the knees. Her blonde hair was in a messy ponytail. Lloyd was right behind her in his usual white shirt and green hoodie with black pants. His blonde hair was short and wavy, as if it were being blown in the wind. Windswept, for short. As the two of them made it up the steps, everyone’s chatter all froze midsentence and everyone stared at them.

Right now the song playing just for Leah was _Bad Blood_. And like every other day of the school year, she burst out in song as the song started to play.

“‘ _Cause baby now we got bad blood_ , _you know it used to be mad love_.” Leah sang, closing her eyes and swinging down into her usual seat. “ _So take a look what you’ve done_ , ‘ _cause baby now we got bad blood_. _Hey_!” Her Eastern European voice- once in a while somebody called her Scarlet Witch- was beautiful, but nobody cared. Nobody ever did. It was a normal phenomenon for Leah Garmadon to sing as she got on the bus.

Lloyd sat down next to her. He, unlike her, was not comfortable with his classmates. He wasn’t known for anything except for being the son of Lord Garmadon.

The bus ride was normal- the kids all sat on the opposite side of the bus from the two of them- and they arrived at the school twenty minutes late like usual. Leah hopped from the bus and continued to sing. “ _Now we got problems_ , _and I don_ ’ _t think we can solve_ ‘ _em_. _You made a really deep cut_ , _and baby now we got bad blood_. _Hey_!”

“Hey, Leah!” Nya came out of nowhere, hooking her arm with Leah’s. She was wearing a similar outfit to the daughter of Lord Garmadon; a black leather jacket and jeans that were ripped at the knees. But instead of a purple shirt, she was wearing a striped black-and-white one, and her jeans were light blue. “So, it’s _Bad Blood_ today. I seriously thought it was going to be _Welcome to New York_.”

Leah snorted, turning up the volume on her IPod. “This school doesn’t deserve _Welcome to New York_ , with its terrible principal and students. It deserves _Bad Blood_ , or maybe _Done_. Also _Love Doesn’t Stand a Chance_ , _Revenge is Going to be Mine_ , _Wicked Always Wins_ , _Chainsaw_ , _Forever Mine Nevermind_ , and _I Went too Far_.”

Nya’s eyes widened and she laughed. “You certainly have a grudge against this school. You can vent to me at lunch, because dude, we’re going to be so late for class if we don’t get out of here.”

The school was like any other school, although the grounds outside were beautiful. Inside there was a huge hall with lockers on one side with huge glass windows on the other. The halls were crowded with about a hundred kids and Leah had to nearly tackle someone to get past them. Finally, she reached her locker and stared at the newest mean notes that covered her locker, just like last year, just like it had always been.

Every year, every school day, kids would put notes on her locker. All of them- except the ones from her five friends- were cruel, mean notes and jeers. This time her locker was literally just coated with notes. _‘Get out of here, Garmadork!’ ‘You don’t deserve to live in Ninjago City!’ ‘Nobody wants to hear you sing!’ ‘Nobody thinks you’re a stupid music ninja!’ ‘I don’t want to see your ugly face again!’ ‘Go spread your Garmadon disease somewhere else!’ ‘Nobody knows who Aurora is, stop trying to get us all into her.’ ‘Go jump off a bridge!’_

The last note struck her straight in the heart, and it was the absolute perfect moment for _One_ to start playing. The whispered words consoled her like they always did when she saw that particular note, the one that she never took off her locker on purpose.

Leah did not cry, though. The ‘Music Ninja’ never, ever cried. Weakness was not allowed for her, not with everyone watching her like vultures. She couldn’t let them get to her. Even if they didn’t understand who Aurora was and why she loved the singer-songwriter so much.

_It’s for the best. Go jump off a bridge. You don’t have anything to stay for._

But the teenager _did_ have something to stay for. The music that surrounded her every moment of the day, that kept her alive, that kept her soul pleasant and filled with rainbows and butterflies and _life_. _Real life_. No darkness, no shadows, no evil, no death, and certainly no suicide. Never suicide. Only when she looked at that note- when she reminded herself that she would one day be an adult, find that nobody wanted to hire her, and jump off a bridge- did suicide enter her mind the slightest bit.

“ _One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do_ ,” Leah murmured as she pulled out her English literature book from her locker. “ _Two can be as bad as one, it’s the loneliest number besides the number one._ ” Somebody tapped her on the shoulder and the girl turned to see her bestest friend in the world, - along with Nya- Cole. He had his headphones on but still flashed Leah his signature smile. “Hey, ignore it all. They’re not worth thinking about. Nothing is but your family, friends, and music.”

Leah gave him a half-hearted smile. “I’m starting to think only music is. Y’know, I really don’t want to be here today. I don’t ever want to be here again. I want to go home, curl up on the couch and watch every movie and episode of _Equestria Girls_.”

Cole sighed and patted her shoulder. “I know you do. I also know that I want to go home and watch _Batman Begins_ a thousand times. But you want education, right? Education’s good, dude- er, most of it, at least. Exclude chemistry, always exclude chemistry.”

The song switched from _One_ to another of Leah’s favorites, _Conqueror_. Aurora always made her feel good, and she could feel her spirits lifting. “ _Broken mornings, broken nights and broken days in between_ ,” the teenager sang. “ _Open ground, the sky is open, makes an open sea_. Come on, we’re going to be late for class.”

Leah skipped down the hallway, turning the music volume way up, and it blasted into her ears, rocking her on, keeping her alive. “ _I’ve been looking for the conqueror, but you don’t seem to come my way! I’ve been looking for the only one, but you don’t seem to come my way!_ ”

English class was the worst class ever if you liked your education, but Leah loved it. The teacher, Ms. Maleficent, (she made sure they never read _Sleeping Beauty_ ) didn’t really care what the students did as long as they were in the classroom. The daughter of Lord Garmadon wasn’t sure whether the teacher actually cared about her job or if she’d become a teacher just to let kids have a break from the torture of school. Leah liked to think the latter was true.

School went on, bullies stuck their tongues out at her, but life continued. No buckets of paint today, no matter how impossible it seemed. There was _always_ a bucket of paint. No banana peels ‘accidentally’ dropped in front of her so she’d slip. It was actually… _nice_.

Perhaps, though, this was because Leah was yelling out songs all day- unless she was in class- so the kids would think she was crazy and leave her alone. The treatment seemed effective, and she was at a new high of self-confidence.

Eventually, it was time to go home. Leah texted Koko that she’d be out for the day with her friends and be back at bedtime, although she was also planning to spend time with her favorite old man, Uncle Wu. Uncle Wu was always so kind to her, and he seemed to know exactly what went through her head. He was the ninjas’ sensei, but a dear friend to her.

Lloyd, Leah, Nya, Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane headed out to get ice cream together at their favorite ice cream parlor. As always, Leah got three scoops of chocolate on her cone and she ate hers the slowest, ending up giving most her cone to Lloyd. He absolutely loved ice cream cones, no matter how much he tried to play it cool. _Silly old Lloyd_ , she thought as she watched him smash it down. _Always the best brother in the world_.

At five o’clock, about twenty minutes before the sun would set, everyone split off to go home or explore the city on their own. Leah headed off for the _Destiny’s Bounty_ to visit Uncle Wu and watch the sunset with him like she loved to.

Uncle Wu was waiting for her and he welcomed her with open arms. They got chairs and sat down, watching as the sun starting to dip behind the horizon. The only sound that Leah could hear was the song playing, _Runaway_. Eventually, the girl looked over at her uncle and smiled. “Uncle Wu, do you ever wonder what’s out there?”

“Out where, Leah?”

“Out _there_ , Uncle Wu. Over the seas, to where the sun dies every day. Maybe there’re lands with treasures beyond our imagining, or perhaps mountains that rise up into outer space. Ooh, what if there’re rivers of pure liquid gold, and you can scoop it up and sell it for a fortune?”

The old man laughed gently and smiled back at his niece. “Or maybe it is lands like ours, with people like us, with rivers like ours, Leah. You have a wild imagination, my child. If only there were rivers of pure liquid gold to be found.”

“But what if there _are_ , Uncle Wu?” It wasn’t like she could stop her imagination of what laid beyond; the current song was _What a Wonderful World_. “What if instead of fruit, there are trees that bear diamonds, and vegetables made of edible gems?”

The sun was halfway gone and beautiful colors of red, pink, orange and purple scattered across the sky. There were clouds that turned orange in the light that were whisked away by the wind. On the other side of the sky, darkness was starting to creep up, and the moon could be seen faintly. _What a Wonderful World_ finished, and now it proceeded to _Through the Eyes of a Child_.

“Then that would be lovely,” Uncle Wu said quietly. He reached over and unplugged her earbuds, letting the music free as Aurora could now sing to all. “ _Darker times will come and go. Times you need to see her smiling._ ”

Darkness overtook the sky, and the sun disappeared. Stars started to flicker through the night, shining down on them.

_If only I had the eyes of a child…_


	2. "Operation New Me"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't we all want Leah's "LEAVE ME ALONE OR DIE" shirt?

**TWO**

**MONTHS LATER**

**:**

“ _AT THE DOOR, AND I’M READY TO GO-OH! IT’S ME, VERSION TWO-POINT-OH-OH!_ ”

Leah banged her head on the ceiling from her top bunk and yelped in pain. _Operation New Me_ blared from her phone- it was her alarm. Unfortunately, it vibrated so hard it fell off her bureau. It was _that_ kind of day. Lloyd cursed and muttered something about moving so he could have his own room and collapsed out of his bottom bunk, swiping Leah’s phone so it would just _shut up_.

Her brother crawled back in bed, hiding in the dark as if he would wither and die if he stayed in the light for a moment longer.

Pulling her IPod and earbuds off her bureau, Leah grabbed some fresh clothes and her backpack and went to the bathroom. She showered and changed, coming out with clean teeth, not-as-smelly-as-before breath, and a shirt that displayed the words in all caps ‘LEAVE ME ALONE OR DIE’. It was _that_ kind of day.

In the middle of her breakfast, Lloyd stumbled out of their bedroom and groggily got out the box of _Corn Flakes_. He was wearing his usual green jacket and black pants, but this time it was a different white shirt. Koko burst out from her bedroom and sang out, “Lloyd, good _morning_! Oh, you too, Leah, didn’t see you there.”

As Lloyd poured the _Corn Flakes_ into his bowl he hesitated before replying. “Mom, hey, um, here’s a thought; what if I _didn’t_ go to school today?”

“Ooh, add me to the plan,” Leah raised her spoon above her head as she slurped the remaining almond milk from her own bowl. Today it just so happened that the first song was _Operation New Me_. She hated it when her alarm and First Song of the Horrible Day were the same song.

Koko’s eyes widened. “What? Oh no, you don’t want to miss school, guys! These are the best years of your lives!”

“Questionable,” the fifteen-year-old in the room rinsed out her bowl. Lloyd nodded in agreement, “Um, have you- have you been to high school? ‘Cause, uh, it’s judgy. Pretty judgy.”

“Oh honey,” their mother swooped over to Lloyd. “You just need to give them the chance to see the _real_ you.”

“Yeah, uh, I don’t think I can actually show people the _real_ me.”

The ginger-haired woman put her hands on her hips defiantly. “That’s not true. All you have to do is show them the person you are on the inside. Right here.” She put a hand on the spot where his heart was. “Where it matters most. Oh, and also don’t forget, if your dad attacks the city again today, just remember to duck and cover until the Secret Ninja Force give the all clear. Oh, and also don’t forget… have a happy birthday, guys.”

“Woo-hoo!” Leah cheered, feeling a little bit guilty. “It’s our birthday, I totally forgot. Today’s gonna be awesome! We’ll go out, uh, _after_ school and celebrate by hanging out at the playground! Sounds like an amazing plan to me let’s go!”

She pulled Lloyd out the door and dragged him to the bus station, replaying _Operation New Me_. Today was getting better, and now she really felt like the song was good. “ _At the door and I’m ready to go-oh_ ,” she sang, and the others at the bus station gave her a glance before returning to their phones. “ _It’s me version two-point-oh-oh._ ”

The bus arrived and the two Garmadons got on the bus. All the brawling and yelling and screaming stopped mid-everything, and instantly everyone sat down like normal, civilized people. “ _People talkin’ ‘bout my dad situation, I’ll always be the shame of the nation. Could it be that they’ll never see me as me?_ ” Leah slipped into a seat and Lloyd sat beside her. The entire population of School Bus #04 moved to the other side of the bus, like always. Her brother leaned over at whispered, “Are you sure you’re not going deaf? Your music is literally so loud everyone can hear it.”

“Of course!” she whispered back. “If I was going deaf, I wouldn’t have been able to hear you, dummy.”

The bus arrived at Ninjago High School and the siblings burst out from the bus together. “ _You are not a no one, deep down you’re a top gun! Be your own wingman, wheels up to the sky!_ ” Leah ran up the walkway, ignoring the stares of everyone around her. _Operation New Me_ ended and _I’ve Found You_ began. Ever since she’d since _The LEGO Batman Movie_ , she’d been in love with the song from the credits that Robin sings. It was just too sweet to resist.

Cole appeared at Leah’s locker a moment after she’d swept all the new notes off and opened it to retrieve her English literature book. “Hey, you seem in high spirits. What song are you listening to?”

She lifted the left headphone off his ear and plunged her earbud into it. He nodded in understanding and pulled it out, putting his own music-transmitter over his ear. “I should’ve known. _I’ve Found You_ always makes you happy. I’m listening to _Underdog_. It always seems to fit any situation.”

“ _You’ve found me, and Batman I’ve found you._ ” Leah sang the last line of the song, finding confidence in the next song, _Awesome as I Wanna Be_. “Yeah! This IPod can like read my mind or something- I wanted an _Equestria Girls_ song and it gave my favorite to me.”

“BRO! Give me a hug, man, give me a birthday hug!”

Cole and Leah looked to see Kai squeezing the life out of Lloyd, Zane next to them. The ‘normal, ordinary’ really-a-robot teenager beamed. “A birthday hug? Let me get in on that. I’ll increase the pressure dramatically.” Now Kai was getting the life squeezed out of him too, and Lloyd- well, his organs probably exploded.

Jay joined the two music-lovers and twirled his orange scarf nervously. “Aw man, I thought your guys’ birthday was tomorrow. I need to get Lloyd a present! Luckily, I have yours, Leah, otherwise I’d be in deep trouble.”

“Relax,” Cole patted his shoulder, “I’ll distract him later so you can sneak off and get one-” From the other end of the hallway there was a huge screeching, engine-roaring noise and Nya skidded across the hallway on her motorcycle. It had a new paint job; the famous Lady Iron Dragon’s face was on the front. “Lloyd! Yo, bro.”

Kai lounged against the locker next to Leah. “What’s up, sis?”

“Oh, hey, actual bro,” Nya looked over at her brother and then at Jay, who peeked out from behind Cole, his face slightly pink. He’d told Leah a while back his major crush on Nya, although she’d already figured it out by then. “Hey Nya! Where did you get that bike, at the… great stuff store?”

“Guys,” Nya gestured to her motorcycle, “Check out the new paint job, ‘cause I did it myself! The Lady Iron Dragon, my hero!”

“Hey, everyone, look!” Three kids came up in cheer-leading costumes; it was Chen and his squad. Chen had pink pom-poms while the two others- two girls- had blue ones. “It’s the Garmadorks and the Dork Squad! You wanna hear our new cheer? ‘L-L-O-Y-D his dad is bad and so is he, boo Lloyd! Boo Lloyd!’ BOO LLOYD! The next cheer we’re making is for Leah.”

Lloyd faked a grin, “Great chance, I’ll bet you gotta a number one hit on your hands!”

Leah snorted, “People’ll take anything these days- the cheer isn’t even good.” She stalked away with her backpack and headed down the hall to English class. Ms. Maleficent didn’t even notice her coming in ‘early’ (which happened to be twenty minutes late, but everyone was always late so school sort of just moved forward half a hour) and continued her studying of a ripe, red apple.

“Do people ever look at you weirdly?” Leah asked her after a minute or two of just sitting in the back row. Ms. Maleficent shrugged, not seeming to realize who she was talking to. “All the time, dear, but I just look at them weirdly back.”

It was a good piece of advice, and the daughter of Garmadon liked the teacher more for it.


	3. "It's Garmadon"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't it be so awkward to watch your brother and father argue and not be able to do anything but watch?

After English, there was Science. Leah slammed the door open to find only three people had arrived on time like her; Zane, Camilla, and Sam. She sang out as she slipped into her seat, turning the volume up. “ _I get the short end of it. Oh, I’d love to be, I’d love to be the underdog- hey!_ ” Cole was right; _Underdog_ fit any situation. Mrs. Fleethorn sat stiffly at her desk, paging delicately through some papers. Skylor slowly walked through the empty door and sauntered to a desk in the back. Her dark red hair stood out like the sun, and it was one of the reasons why Kai had a huge crush on her. Speaking of the devil, Kai crashed into the room and sat down next to Leah and whispered, “Look who it is- Skylor!”

For some reason, the Fire Ninja liked to pretend it wasn’t him who had a crush on Skylor but Leah herself, but she didn’t really care. “Oh my gosh, Kai, you can admit your undying love for her now- don’t let Mrs. Fleethorn hear you though, you know she doesn’t like romance between the students.” It was the perfect deadpan, and Kai slowly leaned back into his seat with his cheeks dark red. Zane smiled at him, “You have a secret-”

“Shh!” Leah hissed. “Skylor doesn’t know- it’s a secret for a reason.”

In that moment everyone else flooded into the classroom the last one in Leah’s row turned out to be Lloyd, while the rest of their group scattered across the other three rows with the other students. Mrs. Fleethorn looked down her nose at the students as if she were more superior than them- which she was, obviously- and stood up from her seat. “Today we will be learning about why siblings are so different. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this question many times throughout your life if you have your own siblings, and now I shall answer it.”

The teacher went on about DNA and parents and such, writing on the chalkboard and the whole shebang, but Leah wasn’t paying much attention. _Million Years Ago_ beat into her soul like a knife, the words singing true in her ears. _I miss the air, I miss my friends. I miss my mother, I miss it way. Life was a party to be thrown… but that was a million years ago._ She couldn’t help but write a note with the simple words ‘million years ago’ and subtly pass it ahead to Nya who was in the row in front of her. Leah’s friend took it, read it, and then reached back to take the daughter of Garmadon’s hand. Nya’s hand was strong and reassuring, and Leah wished she wouldn’t have to let go at the end of class.

The end of class, in fact, came quickly and finally it was time for the Horrid Class of All Time Which Was Also Called Social Studies, aka HCATWWACSS. Leah sat on the same row as Nya this time and they passed notes between each other constantly, managing to avoid Ms. Buckleberry’s careful gaze. But at the moment the song turned to _It’s Garmadon_ (a song by Garmadon himself) the Garmadon-Alert whined on throughout the whole school and Ms. Buckleberry dropped her teaching stick, or whatever you call it. “Uh-oh, it’s Garmadon!”

“THANKS, LLOYD AND LEAH,” everyone said at the same time. Lloyd kicked Leah’s leg from behind and with the rest of her friends jumped up and asked, “Can I have a bathroom pass?” Leah quickly joined in, “Uh, yeah, me too.”

Ms. Buckleberry’s eyes flicked between the seven of them. “I think you mean ‘may I’, ‘ _may_ I have a bathroom pass’? You know what, do whatever you want.”

As the seven burst down the hallways toward their lockers (not the nearest bathroom, of course- that was a ploy, obviously) Leah joined Lloyd at the front of the pack. “What am I coming with you for? I’m not a ninja!”

“Maybe that’s not true anymore,” Lloyd shrugged. “I built you a mech and everyone agrees- even Uncle Wu- that it would be good for a new ninja on our team. You can be the Music Ninja, and I programmed your mech to work at your voice command as well as actual levers and such.”

Leah became uneasy, “Are you sure? I would just slow you down; I’ve never even practiced fighting! How am I supposed to get anything done?”

Nya punched her arm softly, “Don’t worry, it’s easy, and you wouldn’t be able to practice with a mech anywhere, right? Unless you went into that huge jungle, but even then the mech would be too big.”

They reached their lockers quickly and put their hands together. “Ninja go!” Then they stepped into the lockers and fell through the tubes that were hidden beneath them. Their lockers were connected to the Secret Ninja Force HQ where all the ninjas’ mechs were. Everyone- excluding Leah- had pulled off their regular clothes to reveal their ninja gis during the trip over. Lloyd handed Leah a purple gi and gestured to a mech that was on the other side of the HQ. “Welcome to the team, Music Ninja.”

The mech was a jet but more awesome than that. It was a mixture of purples and indigos with light purple staining the front. The wings were nearly smooth against the sides for extra speed and were black at the tips and indigo on the rest of them. The indigos turned to dark purple, which followed with normal purple and then of course the light purple at the front. Speakers lined the sides and there were invisi-screens on the window shield. Leah grabbed her new purple gi, pulled it on over her clothes, and jumped inside. “Music Mech, ready and standing by!”

“Fire Mech- so ninja!”

“Water Mech, ready and standing by.”

“Ice Mech- loading, loading, loading, loading.”

“Lightning Mech, ready- no, not ready- ready!”

“Earth Mech, ready and standing by.”

“Green Ninja, ready and standing by. All ninja- hit it!”

Everyone burst out from the Secret Ninja Force HQ with incredible speed, either into the air, over the water, or on land. Leah whooped, soaring into the air at what her computer told her was 90 MPH. She connected her IPod to the jet and then there was music surrounding her and blaring out her speakers for the whole world to hear. Right now it sang out _Heroes_ , written by some guy who loved the Secret Ninja Force.

Leah heard Jay’s voice over the comm, “With these mechs, we’re unstoppable!”

“ _Your heroes on the way, we love to save the day, we’re gonna reach that place, that takes us higher!_ ” The Music Ninja belted out the song, shooting missiles at any Shark Army people she could see. “WOO-HOO!”

“Jay, Leah,” Lloyd said over the comm, “You take the air. Nya, water. Kai, Zane, and Cole- you guys take downtown.”

“On it, Lloyd!” Leah shouted over her music, and she joined Jay. Three seconds later, they were surrounded by about ten Shark Army planes. Jay’s worried scream pierced Leah’s ears and her own anxiety levels were rising. _Stress song time!_ “Okay, okay,” she said to herself. “Computer, put on _Awesome as I Wanna Be_ from _Equestria Girls; Rainbow Rocks_!”

“Of course,” the computer responded, and Rainbow Dash’s voice filled the jet. Leah sang along with her, “ _I’M AWESOME, TAKE CAUTION, WATCH OUT FOR ME, I’M AWESOME AS I WANNA BE!!!_ ” She pressed ‘explosion’ on one of the invisi-screen and the music caused a sonic explosion that shattered all the shark planes to smithereens, the soldiers going flying. “YEAH, BABY!!!” she screamed.

“Nice work, guys!” Lloyd said over the comm. “I’m going after Garmadon.”

 _This…_ this _is what life should be like._ Leah shot another shark plane down with two missiles and turned on the local news channel- it was _always_ on, no matter the circumstances. A random lady was raving on about the new ninja. “I’m standing here watching as this purple ninja blows Shark Army troops apart with music! We have a new ninja, everyone- the Music Ninja!”

Kai’s voice crackled over the comm, “Hey, Lloyd, your dad- I mean uh, Garmadon’s almost at the Mayor’s office.”

“I’m on it!” Lloyd responded, and Leah saw him speeding through the sky past her. _Better follow him in case he needs backup._ She followed him through the many skyscrapers of Ninjago City and to where Garmadon was starting the next part of his plan. The other ninja arrived a few moments later.

Garmadon saw them coming and stumbled his shark mech behind a building. Lloyd narrowed his eyes fiercely, “We’ve got you surrounded, Garmadon!”

“You’re too slow, Green Ninja!” the evil warlord cackled from his obvious hiding place. “You can’t catch me. Where am I? Am I over here? Or am I over there?”

The Green Ninja blinked and then raised an eyebrow. “You are right behind that building, I can see your shark tail sticking out.”

“Oh, let me grab that,” the shark mech skittered behind a neighboring building. “Where’s Garmadon now? Am I over here, here, here? Or am I over there, there, there? It’s like a house of mirrors in here.”

Leah leaned back in her seat, interested in what was taking place. _Man, Garmadon actually seems like a funny guy._ Lloyd, though, was becoming quite irritated. “Do you think you’re hiding right now? Do you actually think I can’t see you?”

“Well, if you can see me, why don’t you shoot me?” Garmadon poked the shark mech out from behind the building and instantly got shot by one of Lloyd’s dragon mech missiles. Ow! That was, like, in my kidney!”

Lloyd threw up his hands in frustration. “Why do you want to conquer Ninjago so badly?”

“Because there’s something very, very special here.” The new Music Ninja leaned forward now, her growing interest now spiked up. Was he talking about his children? Was he saying that he cared for them? Lloyd’s eyebrows raised and he whispered, “What?”

Garmadon continued on from wherever his hiding place was. “I’m gonna let the walls down for just a second, Green Ninja.”

“Go… go on.”

“About sixteen years ago I lost something I should never have given up.”

“What is it? Just say it. It’s okay, you can say it.”

“I had this guitar in college and I traded it stupidly for, like, a jacket or something.” Leah heaved a sigh and slid back into a comfortable seated position. _What a let down._ Lloyd seemed to deflate, “That’s what you were referring to?”

“Yeah, what else would I be referring to?”

“I don’t know, maybe something else, think about it. Are you sure there’s not any other sort of connection you have to the city? Nothing?”

“There are some people in the city I love very much.” Leah sat back up again, her interest renewed. _Maybe he really does love us!_ Lloyd’s eyes widened again, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I remember when I first laid eyes on them.”

“Go on.”

“The last time I saw them was… I guess about sixteen years ago, too.”

“Yeah?”

“I was just an irresponsible kid and…”

“Uh-huh.”

“There was this couple who made probably the best sushi I’ve ever had in my life. You never knew what was coming next. And you didn’t even order.” _YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, GARMADON,_ Leah relaxed back into her seat for a second time. “It was one of those places where you don’t even get a menu.”

Lloyd gritted his teeth in visible growing fury, “Omakase.”

“Is that the name of the place?”

“That just means he brings it to you-”

“That is! That’s the name of the place.”

“-and you don’t choose, he chooses.”

“That’s the place.”

“ _Anyway_ , just to clarify, nothing, nothing else, if you really racked your brain there’s no other connection?”

“Yes, there were two children that I had in my life.” Leah jumped in surprise and knocked the reverse lever forward, sending the mech backwards in the air. She instantly pulled it back and tuned back into the conversation. Lloyd was clutching his mech tightly, “What… what happened to your children?”

“They were bald, had no teeth, couldn’t chew, always crying, couldn’t walk, couldn’t even walk. I was like, ‘what are we gonna do with these kids’? So I’m like, ‘I don’t want hairless, crying children for the rest of my life’.”

“Shush! Shush! Zip it! No!”

“And that was when I made the decision to go away and live my life!”

“Stop talking! You’re done!” The Green Ninja slammed a hand onto his control panel and a million missiles fired straight for Garmadon’s hiding spot. Explosions rocked the earth and even the other ninjas’ mechs went flying backwards. When the smoke cleared from the one spot there was Garmadon, standing on the small remains of his mech with a bubble shield surrounding him. The ninja team gathered around him, weapons still pointing at him. Garmadon was coughing hard. “Geez, where did that come from? I did not see that coming. Your missiles are very accurate, Green Ninja. Too bad for you, I upgraded all of my shields! That’s all I seem to have at the moment, just some upgraded shields.”

Lloyd stood up on his mech, “Face it, Garmadon. You will never take over Ninjago. So why don’t you just give up and go away for good?”

Garmadon shrugged, “Well, anything’s open for discussion. Oh, yeah, except that. Shields down!” he tossed a bomb at Lloyd’s dragon mech- it was an old fashioned one. “Here, catch! Shields up!”

Leah’s brother juggled the bomb around in his hands before dropping it and ending up flat on his stomach. Garmadon burst into laughter with his generals- who were behind him- and gestured to the Green Ninja. “Did you see that? I mean, who taught you how to catch, man?”

“Oh yeah?” Lloyd gritted his teeth. “Well, take this!” He picked up the bomb and tried throwing it at Garmadon but it instead flew backwards and rolled farther down his mech. The generals and Garmadon laughed even harder than before. Leah would laugh with them if she wasn’t Lloyd’s brother. Garmadon banged his hands on his console in his hysteria. “That’s amazing! Who taught you how to throw?”

“It’s funny you ask,” Lloyd crossed his arms. “Um, no one, because I never had a dad to play catch with me.”

“Well, it shows. ‘Cause that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Or uh, you know, teach me how to ride a bike, or shave…” the bomb suddenly exploded behind him and he winced. “OR HOW TO DEFUSE A BOMB!”

“You know what’s funny? Is I know how to do all those things.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, good to know.”

“And they’re just sitting there, idle in my brain. Just wasted. Floating away. Never taught them to anybody… and they’ll probably die with me. When I die, if I die. Which will never happen. I will never die, ever, ever. I-”

Lloyd clenched his fists, “Just _leave_ Ninjago already _please_ , and get out of my _life_!”

Garmadon paused midsentence and frowned at the ninja leader. “Get out of your life? Weirdly kinda personal, isn’t it?”

The rest of the ninja team exchanged glances and muttered their worries over the radio to each other. Leah put a hand to her forehead in anxiousness. Lloyd’s eyes widened and he seemed at a loss for words. “Um… no.”

Shark Army helicopters gathered around Garmadon’s shark mech and chained themselves to the remains of it. Garmadon gave the Green Ninja a weird look. “You’ve got a lot of issues, Green Ninja. I hope you get the chance to work ‘em all out by the time I’m back. And when I return I’ll have something really wicked in store for you. Something big!” The Shark Army helicopters carried him away, back towards his lair off the coast of Ninjago.

Leah felt the silence around her, the world without music, was actually a song. It sang about something terrible to come.


	4. "It's the Hard-Knock Life"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love, angst, and a quiet talk in the kitchen. What more could you ask for?

The SNF (Secret Ninja Force) returned to their HQ a few minutes after Lloyd’s conversation with his father. Leah had flipped the switch to autopilot for the return journey while mulling over what Lord Garmadon had said. _And that was when I made the decision to go away and live my life!_ His words echoed in her head. _Did he really not care about us? Does he still not at all?_ She landed her jet in the abandoned warehouse and got out. Nya instantly swooped over, “Hey, that must’ve been hard for you. Are you okay?”

The daughter of Garmadon pulled her headphones over her ears, “I don’t know.” To be honest, she definitely wasn’t. Tears pricked the edge of her vision and Nya bear-hugged her, “Oh hey, it’s gonna be okay. You don’t need your father; you don’t need to care about him. You’ve got Lloyd, you’ve got your mom, and you’ve got your friends. You can ignore everyone else in the world.”

“It’s just that I-I’ve always thought that may-maybe he still cared a-about us,” Leah burst into tears, burying her face into Nya’s shoulder. Everything about that moment made Leah want to kill herself- everything except for the arms around her and the soft murmuring of Nya’s familiar voice. Nya whispered in her ear, “How about you stay at my house tonight? I’ll text your mom. You just sit down- you know what, I’ll sit with you.”

The two of them sat down on the nearby double-decker couch, Leah continuing to cry. Her music was so terribly sad; it was _Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)_. While Nya texted Koko, Leah muttered over and over again, “Just kill me, just kill me, just kill me…”

When Nya sent the text she cradled Leah close to her. “Don’t say that. Leah, there are still things to live for. Don’t give up. Things will get better, I promise you.” The Water Ninja then stood up, speaking to the others. “Guys, Leah and I are gonna go to Kai’s and my house. See ya later.”

The other ninja called out their goodbyes as the pair went to the bathroom to change out of their ninja gis. Then they headed out to the bus, which they rode all the way to Nya’s house. Leah drowned herself in music the whole way there. _I Went Too Far_ , _Under the Water_ , _Churchyard_ , and _Winter Bird_ were only a few examples of the songs she listened to. And during all this she kept saying, “Just kill me, just kill me, just kill me…”

When they finally reached their destination, Nya escorted Leah to her room where they settled on the bed. Leah tried to grab a nearby pocket knife but Nya held her fast. “Leah, you are not going to die today. _Stop it_. Listen to me- Leah, _look at me_.”

Leah, still crying, turned her head to Nya. “Nobody loves me. Not even my own father.”

“Your mom and Lloyd love you,” Nya placed a gentle hand on her cheek, “And you know what you need to do about all the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of this world?” She plucked Leah’s IPod out of her pocket and picked _Shake It Off_ , taking the headphones’ plug out to let the music shout out. And then Nya actually started singing along, “ _I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain, that’s what people say. That’s what people say. I go on too many dates, but I can’t make them stay, at least that’s what people say. That’s what people say._ ”

The Music Ninja joined in with her best friend, “ _But I keep cruising, can’t stop won’t stop moving, it’s like I got this music in my mind saying it’s gonna be all right. ‘Cause the player’s gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the hater’s gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off! Breaker’s gonna break, break, break, break, break, and the baker’s gonna bake, bake, bake, bake, bake, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off!_

“ _I never miss a beat, I’m lightning on my feet, and that’s what they don’t see. That’s what they don’t see. I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go, and that’s what they don’t know. That’s what they don’t know. But I keep cruising, can’t stop won’t stop grooving, it’s like I got this music in my mind saying it’s gonna be all right. ‘Cause the player’s gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the hater’s gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off! Breaker’s gonna break, break, break, break, break, and the baker’s gonna bake, bake, bake, bake, bake, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off! Shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off!"_

Nya took the solo, “ _Hey, hey, hey! Just think while you’ve been getting down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world you’ve could’ve been getting down to this sick beat! My ex-man brought his new girlfriend and she’s like oh my god, I’m just gonna shake until the fella over there with the hella good hair, why don’t you come on over baby we can shake, shake, shake._ ”

They then sung together, “ _‘Cause the player’s gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the hater’s gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off! Breaker’s gonna break, break, break, break, break, and the baker’s gonna bake, bake, bake, bake, bake, baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, shake it off! Shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off. Shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off, off, off, shake it off, shake it off!_ ”

Leah stood up and spun around, happiness overwhelming her. “That was so much fun! Nya, you know how to make everything better. Thank you.” She looked at Nya’s face, studying each feature there. Her eyes were so blue, so very blue. _Huh… she’s so pretty, and yet she hides it at all costs._

“Leah…” Nya walked over to her and took Leah’s hand. “I have something to tell you. I should’ve told you a long time ago.” The Water Ninja hesitated, biting her lip. “I… I have a giant crush on you.”

The world screeched to a halt and Leah blinked. _Wait, what?_ Nya, the freaking _Water Ninja_ , the coolest girl in the world, liked _Leah_? Lloyd’s sister stood frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. Nya looked away, “I guess that means you don’t like me back.”

“No. No!” Leah took Nya’s other hand in her own. “That’s not what this is. Nya, you have been my friend for forever. You’ve helped me- you’re still helping me- get through me being suicidal. You’ve always been there for me when I’ve needed a shoulder to cry my heart out on. I would have to be asexual not to love you. And I’ll be loved by all of Ninjago before I’m asexual.” Leah then pulled Nya into a kiss, pushing all her other thoughts to the back of her mind. The only thing that mattered was Nya. _It’s my turn to bring her spirits up._

Nya kissed back and they tumbled onto the bed. Leah could hardly breathe, the kiss was so passionate. The Water Ninja was in the dominant position and used it to her advantage. After a few minutes, though, Leah pulled back, worry growing inside her. Nya frowned, “Is something wrong?”

“Oh gosh, we can’t do this,” Leah gently pushed Nya off her. Nya’s eyes were showing the breaking of her heart. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember! Nya, Jay told me a couple months ago he has an enormous crush on you. If we get together he’ll be furious! I’ll have betrayed him!”

“Is that all?” her best friend breathed a sigh of relief. “Leah, we don’t have to tell anybody about this. Nobody has to know we’re together. It can be our secret.”

Leah thought for a moment about this. “But if he finds out after we’ve kept it from him, Jay will be even angrier. He’ll have been pining for you without knowing he was making a fool of himself. I can’t do that to him. It’s too cruel.” She got off the bed and made for the door. “I’m sorry, Nya. I’m so, so sorry. If it weren’t for Jay, I would be kissing you in a heartbeat. I think I… I think I should go.”

Nya stared after her, tears welling up in her eyes. “Leah, please.”

The Music Ninja didn’t respond. Instead, she opened the door and left Nya’s house. The street outside was busy, cars flashing by and the lights of the city shining brightly as ever. The sun had set a little while before. The pollution of the city blocked out the stars. The roads intertwined with each other over a series of highways. Leah decided that walking was best and the song bursting through her headphones turned to _It’s the Hard-Knock Life_. She considered walking into the middle of the road more than a few times but always remembered Nya. _She would be devastated if I committed suicide. I can’t do that to her._ But on the very road of her apartment complex the pull became too great. She stepped to the edge of the road, ready to-

“Leah!” Lloyd’s voice startled her away from the road. Her brother rushed to her side. “Whoa, you need to look both ways before crossing! I thought you were staying at Nya’s house?”

She was at a loss for words. She couldn’t say what had happened with Nya. He might accidentally bring it up to Jay. “I- we- we thought it’d be better for me to come home instead of staying at her house.”

Lloyd was silent for a moment. “You didn’t look both ways on purpose, did you? What happened?”

Leah looked away, knowing that the secret wouldn’t be able to be kept for long. _I guess I just have to tell him and hope for the best._ “We sang along to _Shake It Off_ , I told her how much I appreciated her, she told me she had a crush on me, we kissed a lot, I remembered Jay had a crush on her, and then I left.”

His eyes widened in astonishment, “Whoa. That is… a lot more than I thought it would be. But what does Jay having a crush on her matter?”

“Because if he ever found out that after he told me about his ‘secret’ crush I went and got together with the girl he liked, he’d be furious. I can’t do that to him. It’d be a complete betrayal. I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

“Leah,” her older brother rested a hand on her shoulder. “You deserve to be with Nya. If Jay can’t handle that, too bad. You need someone to look out for you the way Nya does. Come on- we should get going. Mom will wonder where I am and you need to get home.”

They together walked down the street to their apartment complex. They lived on the third story of the building. The elevator was empty and they stood in silence as in went up. Finally, they arrived at their door to hear their mother’s worried voice. “I am trying not to freak out right now, but I have called eighteen people and I cannot locate my son. Yes, I know you said you never wanted him to play with your kids, I just didn’t know if, maybe-”

Lloyd opened the door, letting them in. Koko jumped in surprise, “Lloyd! No, I’ve got him right here he just walked in bye-bye oh my gosh! I was so worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” Lloyd reassured her. “I just took the long way home.”

“Why did we get on a family plan if you’re not gonna text me?” She swooped over and hugged her son, squeezing him tight. He sighed, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I love you and I’m sorry.”

Koko closed her eyes and held him tighter, “I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you, okay?”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lloyd said quietly. Koko then turned to Leah, “I thought you were staying at Nya’s house. Changed your mind?”

Leah’s eye twitched involuntarily. She was at a complete loss of words. _I wonder how Mom would react if I told her I went there, made out with Nya, and then ran away because my other friend Jay likes Nya too and I don’t want to lose him because that would be just another step closer to my eventual suicide?_ She decided it wasn’t the best idea. Koko rubbed Leah’s head playfully, “Well, you’re welcome to stay here, young traveler. We were going to have dumplings for dinner- would you like to join in, strange unknown adventurer?”

“Oh, uh,” Leah’s brother looked away, “I think I’m just gonna go to bed. Just really tired. Good night, Mom. Night, Leah.” He walked off to his and Leah’s shared bedroom, not seeing Koko turn and hold out a birthday cake with a candle lit on top. The door shut and their mother’s face saddened. She put the cake on the table and shook her head. “I guess it’s just you and me, stranger. I was planning on some time with Lloyd but it’ll be just as good to spend it with you.”

“Sounds great,” the teenager went to the fridge. “So, where is this food called ‘dumplings’ that you speak of, hospitable madam? I am s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g.”

“Back of the fridge, friendly explorer,” Koko sat down at the table and waited for Leah to get out the dumplings. They then started to eat peacefully together, the only sound being the muffled cars and trains outside and their clinking silverware. Eventually, Koko spoke. “Do you want to tell me what happened at Nya’s house?”

“It’s complicated.”

“We’ve got plenty of time, mysterious voyager.”

Leah contemplated answering and decided on giving her mother half the story. The suicide talk could wait. “Well, we went to her house and we sang _Shake It Off_ together. Then we admitted our feelings for each other and we kissed. Of course, I remembered that Jay has a crush on her so we can’t be together otherwise he’ll feel completely betrayed.”

Koko just stared at me for a second before replying. “Okay, so I was thinking it was gonna be something like you wanted to spend your birthday with your mother, but this seems more realistic. Are you… are you okay? After all that has gone down? You know, you should just be with her. Jay shouldn’t get in the way of your relationship.”

“I don’t want to fight over dating, Mom. It’s stupid.”

“Then if you did fight it wouldn’t be your fault for doing so. If Jay wants to fight you about it maybe you shouldn’t be friends with him in the first place. If he can’t deal with you being in love then he isn’t a very nice person!” Koko finished eating and pushed her china plate away. “Leah, if you love somebody you should do everything to be with them. You should do everything you can to make sure they and yourself become the best people you can be, together. When your father and I had our falling-out, it was because I realized that having a man like Lord Garmadon has your father would’ve made you not very good people. I left the man I loved because I loved my children more. Love is like war, Leah- everybody gets hurt. But it doesn’t always have to be that way.”

The daughter of Garmadon stared blankly at her mother. “Did you just give me an inspirational speech on how to file divorce?”

“Oh my _gosh_ , no,” Koko rolled her eyes playfully. “What I’m saying is that even if you care about somebody, you have to put those you love first. You love Nya a lot more than you love Jay, I’m thinking. You have to put Nya first.”

“But-”

“No buts. That’s my advice, mystifying trekker. Tell me when you figure everything out- and I’m always here for you.” The ginger-haired woman picked up their empty plates and washed them off in the sink. While doing so, she gestured towards Lloyd’s and Leah’s bedroom door. “Oh, and figure out what’s wrong with Lloyd. He doesn’t seem his usual self."

“Will do,” Leah headed for the bathroom. “Thanks, Mom, for the talk.”

“You’re my daughter, mighty warrior queen- I would do anything for you.”


	5. "Feels So Good"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day of being a ninja, except it doesn't go as well as the first day did.

* * *

The next day was Saturday. Leah was prepared to hide in her shared room all day reading comic books and listening to music, but at seven a-m someone started knocking on her door. She groaned and burrowed deeper under her covers, having just woken from a weird dream. “Whaizit,” she mumbled unintelligibly. Koko opened the door, “Hey, honey, I was thinking we should spend the day together! Have some fun out in the big city.”

“Uuuugh.”

“Oh, you’ll wake up in a few minutes. Lloyd’s out with Cole, so it’s just us.”

Leah tumbled out of bed and onto the floor from her top bunk, moaning in pain before managing to stand up. She’d cried herself to sleep the night before- quietly, as so Lloyd wouldn’t hear- and was so, so tired. Changing into a fluttery purple dress with black leggings and her black leather jacket, she grabbed her purse and marched out into the front room where her mother waited. Her black short heels made a satisfying _click-clack_ as she walked. You had to be well dressed if you were going into the city for tourism. Of course, her earbuds were tucked into her ears; her IPod zipped safely in her purse.

“You look nice!” Koko smiled at her. Leah shrugged, but still felt a slight pride at her fashion sense. Koko herself was also in a very nice outfit; a short light green dress with a golden dragon on the front, with a brown jacket covering her bare shoulders and brown boots.

The two exited the apartment and took the elevator down. Once out of the complex, Leah took in a deep breath. _Maybe this will be a good day. Nobody telling me I should die, nobody bullying me, nothing to remind me of Nya, just me and Mom having a good time together._ Cars, buses, tuk-tuks, and every other vehicle imaginable zoomed down the highways and roads beside them as they walked on the sidewalk, pointing out cool shops. After a couple minutes Leah spotted an old vinyl shop and dragged Koko inside, as she needed a present for Cole’s upcoming birthday and this was the perfect place to get it.

The sounds of the outdoors were muted once inside. A strange quiet filled the room. There was nobody inside, except for an old man who was seated at the glass counter. What seemed to be thousands of records filled the bookshelves that lined the walls and the rest of the room. All the physical music Cole could possibly get. _I gotta tell him about this place._ Leah went to the counter and cleared her throat to get the old man’s attention. “Excuse me, sir?”

The old man was sitting on a stool that was against the wall, slouched with a hat over his eyes. He snorted awake- he must’ve been asleep- and took his hat off, revealing a bald head. “Need help lookin’ for something, young miss?” he asked kindly.

“Um,” Leah gulped, as she was nervous about talking to any employee ever. “I would be thankful if you could show me the, uh, classic rock section please, uh, sir.”

He smiled understandingly and made his way out from behind the counter. “‘Course, miss- if you’ll follow me.”

Suddenly the earth shook and there was a loud crash outside. The old TV in the corner of room was displaying the news channel and a frightened news reporter. “Breaking news; Garmadon is attacking the city in a never-before-seen mech! The ninja are going to have their hands full with this thing!”

“Lloyd!” Koko and Leah cried out at the same time. Koko pulled out her phone and started pressing buttons on it, “I’ll text him! Oh gosh, I hope he’s okay. Those Shark Army troops could hurt him, or _worse_ …”

Leah put a hand to her temple. The whole ninja team was in trouble; they needed her. But how could she just leave Koko without giving away the fact that she was one of the ninja? And even if she did tell Koko, Koko would never let her leave. “Mom, I think I know where Lloyd is- he and Cole always go there when they hang out. I’m pretty sure I saw Lloyd’s phone at home, so I’ll go get him myself.”

“I’ll go with you!” her mother exclaimed. “We’re better together than separated!”

“No, no!” the blonde-haired girl objected. “You need to go home in case Lloyd gets there before I find him. If he does, text me and I’ll come straight back.”

Koko hesitated before nodding, “Okay. Find him as quickly as you can. Keep in touch with me, okay? If you can’t find Lloyd in an hour then come home. Message me if you can’t.”

“Okay,” Leah nodded and then pointed to the old man. “I’m coming back here later, don’t go anywhere!” She took off out of the shop and started running for the ninja HQ, which was if she remembered correctly on the other side of town. _Of course Garmadon has to ruin today of all days. The one day I might’ve had some semblance of pleasure!_ Before she could even make it down the block she spotted three Shark Army soldiers cornering two women next to a nail salon. Leah took off her short heels and, running in her socks, threw them at two of the soldiers. “Hey, jerks! Leave them alone!”

While two went down wailing about their faces being destroyed, the third grinned at her. “You think a little girl like you can stop us? Ha! Garmadon will make a find soldier out of you.”

“Not today!” Leah gave him a straight left to the jaw, knocking him on his back. _Look What You Made Me Do_ by Taylor Swift started playing, fueling her. She punched one of the other two and then swore, clutching her hand. Obviously, she hadn’t positioned her fist properly. _I really need to get Lloyd to train me._ The other one of the two threw her into a wall and she cried out in agony, pain shooting up her back. Just then, though, the two women knocked the last Shark Army soldier from behind. One of them helped her up, “You’re- you’re Leah Garmadon. Why’d you help us?”

“Heck, who wouldn’t?” Leah pulled her short heels back on. “Pfft, people have so many prejudices. Just because somebody has an evil father doesn’t mean they’re evil themselves. Now go, run! Get out of here and hide before some more of Garmadon’s minions get you.”

The two hustled away like a couple of pigeons while Leah stood up and quickly skirted the three unconscious Shark Army soldiers. _Too bad there’s nobody that I can get a ride with on Uber right now. Dang, there should be like, emergency transportation during battles, in case ONE OF THE FRICKIN’ NINJA NEEDS TO GET TO THEIR MECH._

Her phone started ringing and she pulled it out to see Lloyd’s icon. Putting it to her ear, she was instantly greeted with yelling. “LEAH, WHERE THE HECK IN THE WORLD ARE YOU?!”

“Trying to get across the entire city to HQ!” Leah shouted back, looking both ways before crossing the road. She couldn’t let herself die right now, even if she wanted to. “Mom and I were shopping when Garmadon attacked! I’m trying to be fast, but I already had to stop one fight on the ground!”

“You _WHAT_?! Are you _trying_ to expose yourself as a ninja?!”

“It’s not like the people I rescued would’ve known! They had to save _me_ in the end!”

“Oh, well that’s just perfect! A ninja has to be saved by civilians!”

“It’s not _my_ fault! I haven’t been trained yet!”

“Make it my number one priority then! Bug me about it until I train you!”

“My pleasure!”

“Okay!”

The call rang dead and Leah put her phone back into her pocket. Lloyd could be so annoying sometimes. She ducked into an alleyway as five Shark Army soldiers marched past. _Huh, I’m already a good ninja._ Sneaking back out, she continued on her way to the ninja HQ. And then the moment she rounded a corner Leah saw Lloyd’s dragon mech getting caught by Garmadon’s mech hand. _Oh no! Lloyd!_

Garmadon’s voice, yet faint, reached her. “You having trouble with that dragon mech, Green Ninja? Buh-bye!” The giant shark mech swung around and threw the dragon mech far off over the city skyscrapers. “ _LLOYD_!” Leah screamed before slamming a hand over her mech. _Oops! I hope I didn’t give Lloyd’s secret identity away to anyone._ After a quick scan of the surrounding area she decided nobody had heard her.

The HQ was only about ten blocks away now. Leah started sprinting, taking off her short heels after about ten steps, running in only her socks. Of course that was the moment that _Feels So Good_ starts playing. How ironic. She finally made it to the HQ after was seemed an eternity and threw on her ninja gi. Once that task was done she climbed into her mech and whispered, “Music Mech, ready and standing by.” Then she shouted, “All ninja- hit it!”

Her jet roared to life and zoomed out of the HQ. Leah’s hands trembled as she steered it towards Garmadon’s mech. “Hey Garmadon, have you heard of the song _Done_ by The Band Perry? Well, probably not because it came out in two-thousand-thirteen, but you’re gonna hear it now!” She pressed a button on her console and the song started blaring out her jet’s speakers. Garmadon’s mech turned to face her, “Who’re you?”

A moment later he swung at her mech and it went soaring sideways straight into a skyscraper. Glass broke all around Leah’s head and _Done_ screeched to a halt. Everything did _not_ feel good now. Garmadon cackled, “Well, whatever ninja you are, you’re certainly a failure. I’m just gonna take over Ninjago now- have fun getting out of that mess!”

Cole’s voice came, as broken as it was from Leah’s nearly-destroyed equip, out of the comm, “Jay, what’s happening? Leah, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Leah groaned at the same Jay said, “Garmadon’s taken out Lloyd!"

“What?!” Kai and Nya yelled.

“I’m sorry,” Cole’s voice came again, “What did you say?”

“REPEAT, GARMADON HAS TAKEN OUT LLOYD!!!”

“Guys,” Kai interrupted, “Garmadon’s almost at city hall! Can one of you please stop him?!”

Whatever was said next Leah didn’t know, for her jet shut down. She sighed and looked around the cockpit. Everything was broken; wires were snapped, metal was bent. Unbuckling, the Music Ninja carefully opened the cockpit and winced as glass tumbled over her back and onto the ground far, far below. Her jet was sticking out the side of the skyscraper, like the building was eating her. She took in a deep breath. _Don’t look down, don’t look down…_

She made her way oh-so-slowly across the top of her jet. One wrong move and she would plummet to her death. Just then her phone buzzed, scaring her and causing her to jump. The jet began to tilt downwards precariously and Leah’s started to panic. _Oh gosh, what do I do?!_ She started running for the hole her jet had left in the building as it dipped farther and farther off the building. It was then falling- and her with it. She jumped for the edge of the building and…

…grasped somebody’s hand. Leah opened her eyes to see one of her own classmates, Skylor, gripping her wrist from the hole in the building. Skylor heaved her up onto the glass-covered floor and once there Leah toppled to the floor. Her breath came in ragged bursts. “Why… why did you do that?” she eventually gasped.

Skylor gave her a strange look. “Because you’re one of the ninja, right?”

 _Oh, oops. I have to stop making mistakes._ “Uh… yeah. Thank you, _citizen_. What’re you doing up here anyways? It’s too dangerous to be anywhere but on the ground.”

“The ground’s crawling with soldiers. I really don’t feel like getting kidnapped and press-ganged into Garmadon’s army. You okay? You like, just about _died_ a couple seconds ago. How about this, we hide up here til Garmadon’s gone, kay? Okay.”

“Um, I need to help my teammates.”

“You’re in no condition to.”

“Citizen, no offense, but you’re not a ninja. You don’t get to boss me around.”

Skylor looked her up and down, “I’m older than you, _Leah_. I can boss you around all I want, as well as your brother.”

Leah paled and her jaw dropped. _Oh shitake mushrooms._ How did Skylor know her secret identity? She’d only been the Music Ninja for a literal day. And it’s not like Leah ever really interacted with Skylor, although Skylor was one of the only ones who didn’t terrorize her. “How… how did you know who I am?”

“I mean, it’s kinda hard not to when you yell ‘Lloyd’ at the top of your lungs when the Green Ninja goes flying off into gosh-knows-where while the Music Ninja is nowhere to be seen.”

 _Oh…_ Apparently, her scan hadn’t been good enough when looking for possible accidental problems caused by her carelessness. Leah looked away, “Okay, so if you knew that I was Leah Garmadon, daughter of Lord Garmadon, then why did you save me?”

Skylor frowned and after a moment of silence replied, “Because you’re not the only one with a lousy dad. My dad’s in jail for trying to rob a bank with a gang called the Anacondrai. I’m living in a foster home right now until he gets out because my mom died when I was little. You think you got problems? Heck, you’ve got it _great_.”

“I… wouldn’t say that.”

“Okay, I guess that’s understating your problems a bit.”

Suddenly the biggest crash Leah had ever heard came from behind them and they both turned to see a skyscraper flat on its side- with a giant, hairy monster standing on top of it. People were running and screaming even more so than before. Leah jumped up, “What in the world is going on? What _is_ that thing?”

Her phone buzzed again and she pulled it out, remembering the reason her jet had fallen from the building in the first place. Two missed calls from Koko. _Gosh, dang it._ She dialed her mother’s number and put the phone to her ear. “I’mkindabusysorryIdidn’tcallearliergottagobye.” Hanging up, it was at that moment when Nya called her. _I sure hope this conversation won’t be awkward at all._

“Leah, where are you?” Nya shouted. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Have Shark Army soldiers gotten you? By gosh, if they lay _one finger_ on you I’ll slaughter-”

“Nya, it’s okay!” Leah interrupted her. “I’m fine. I’m with Skylor right now- you know, our classmate. So, um, she might’ve figured out my secret identity, and Lloyd’s, and I probably just gave away yours, and she’ll probably figure out everyone else’s now too but whatever. Oh yeah, and Garmadon totaled my jet earlier. That’s when Skylor saved me.”

Silence from the other end. Leah bit her lip and motioned for Skylor to leave. Her classmate seemed to understand and went into a neighboring room. “Nya, I didn’t fall for Skylor. Geez, do you jump to conclusions that quickly?”

Nothing. _Did something happen?_ “Nya, what’s going on? What’s happening? NYA!”

Nya’s faint voice then came over the phone, “What is this thing?!”

Leah’s breath hitched and she looked down to see the monster tackling Nya’s water strider on top of a building. “NYA!!” After ripping two of the mech’s legs off, the monster scuttled away after a bright red light, which Leah had no idea what was. The call was cut off and Leah looked to see that Nya had ended it. “Skylor, I have to go!” the blonde-haired girl made for the stairs, the redhead following close behind. “No way, I’m not letting you go alone. You’re still in no condition to-”

“When did you suddenly start knowing about ‘conditions’?” Leah took steps by fours, almost tripping every time she landed. “I’m fine, I have to see if Nya’s okay! There’s nothing you can do to stop me! And you need to stay safe up here!”

“It’s not like you’re any safer out there than I am!” Skylor objected. “Seeing the way you fight, I know you have no training!”

“How did you see me fight?”

“I followed you, you idiot! How else would I have caught you just in time?”

“I dunno, sheer luck?”

“Yeah, right!”

The two went down fifteen flights of stairs before reaching a point just higher in elevation than Nya’s water strider. Leah broke a clump of windows so she could jump out it and grabbed a nearby towel. Skylor face-palmed, “That’s not gonna work.”

“Well,” Leah shrugged, “See you on the other side, then.” She took off out the window and glided, however awkwardly and terrifyingly, down to the roof where Nya’s water mech lay tangled and broken. The moment she landed Leah threw the towel away and started searching, “Nya! Where are you?!”

“Over here!” a grunt came from inside the cockpit and Leah opened it to reveal Nya stuck beneath her console. “Nya!” the sixteen-year-old exclaimed, managing to pull Nya out with the Water Ninja’s help. They laid on the roof for a moment before Leah grabbed Nya’s gi and kissed her passionately.

It lasted for quite a few moments before Nya pulled back and crushed Leah in a hug. Leah started to cry, burying her face in Nya’s shoulder. “I thought you might be gone when you hung up, I thought I’d lost you. I was so worried, I didn’t know if that monster had killed- killed- killed-”

“I’m fine,” Nya whispered, “It’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“I love you so much,” Leah wept. “I wouldn’t be able to live if you died. I love you so, so much. I talked to my mom about what happened yesterday, and she told me if Jay can’t handle us being together then we shouldn’t be friends. And although I can’t take that, I _will_ be with you. It can be a secret, us being together. Nobody has to know. Except Lloyd, who made me tell him what went down last night.”

Nya relaxed slightly, “I love you too, Leah. I’ll be with you no matter what.”


	6. "Welcome to the Jungle"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So their journey begins- first by going through that enormous jungle.

They got up and after another hug they looked around them. “Okay,” Nya narrowed her eyes. “If I were an idiot like Lloyd, where would I go? Probably to the _Bounty_ so I could tell Master Wu about all my mistakes and repent like a Christian would their sins to God.”

“Um,” Leah blinked, “What happened while I was down?”

“Oh, sorry,” Nya winced. “Lloyd got the Ultimate Weapon, actually _fired_ the dang thing, and summoned a giant monster that destroyed all our mechs! Garmadon’s taken over as you probably already figured out. What was Lloyd _thinking_? I can’t believe he went against Master Wu’s orders like that. Oh, he’s gonna hear it from me. Now the giant monster’s wandering around Ninjago City like it owns the place!”

A yelp came from around the corner of the roof and Nya and Leah carefully made their way over. There was Skylor, balancing precariously on the edge. “Oh yeah,” she glared over at them, “Stand there like a bunch of startled starlings like I’m not about to fall off, will you? Would you mind helping?”

Leah ran over and pulled Skylor away from the edge. “How’d _you_ get up here? It’s not like _you’re_ a ninja.”

“Haha, that’s what you think,” Skylor rolled her eyes. “What, nobody else is allowed some form of martial art training that lets them climb up things? Pfft, no way. I’ve been learning that kind of stuff since I was _eight_. You guys are so incompetent without your mechs. So,” she looked over Leah’s shoulder at Nya, “You’ve got to be Nya.”

Nya frowned, “Yeah, I’m Nya. Nice to see you, _Skylor_. Other than bragging about how you’re so much better than everybody else, what’re you here for?”

Skylor flipped her dark red hair over her shoulder. “Just so you know, I saved Leah’s life. Maybe you should be a little more grateful. And I’m here because you can probably use all the help you can get- considering how well you failed against Garmadon.”

“Just stop it!” Leah threw up her hands. “Can we please not fight? How about we go find the others, Nya? Skylor, you can head home to wherever your home is. And since you’re apparently such a great martial artist, you should be able to take care of yourself.”

Their classmate crossed her arms. “No way am I going back to my foster home! I’m going wherever you’re going. There’s nothing you can do to stop me. This city needs somebody useful who’s not going to make everything a million times worse like the Green Ninja.”

The two ninja exchanged glances before Nya heaved a sigh, “Fine, you can come with us. We better head back to the _Bounty_. The others are probably waiting for us. _Sigh_ , we’re going to have to explain to them why you’re tagging along. Well, come on then. Let’s stop wasting time and get outta here.”

The three girls made their way down the building and onto the pavement below. From there they headed to the south-west end of Ninjago City, where the docks were. After about three blocks they ran into Cole and Jay, both panting and looking very alert. Jay beamed when he saw them, “Oh, thank goodness you guys are okay! Wait, uh, why is Skylor with you guys?”

Skylor shook his hand, “It’s complicated, and we’ll explain once the whole ninja team is together. So, you’re Jay and let me guess, you in the black ninja suit is Cole?”

Cole nodded, “Uh-huh. So, why are you not making fun of us or something?”

“Why would I want to do that? I don’t believe I’ve ever done that.”

Kai suddenly appeared behind Cole and Jay. “What up? Besides Lloyd destroying Ninjago with the Ultimate Weapon. Gosh, _why_ did he have to do that? He couldn’t just have let Garmadon take over without making things a quadrillion times worse.”

“Hey!” Leah glared at him. “Stop being mean to my brother!”

Jay put his hands on his hips, “To be fair, your brother unleashed a giant monster onto Ninjago City. We have a _right_ to be mean to him. Anyways, have you three seen Zane? We haven’t, and I’m starting to get worried. What if the monster _ate_ him?”

“That would be false,” came Zane’s voice from above. The team looked up to see the Ice Ninja standing on an overhanging traffic sign. He jumped down and smiled, “I have not been eaten by a monster. Shouldn’t we all be going to the _Bounty_?”

Nya face-palmed, “Yes. Can we go now?”

The ninja team continued on down the streets stealthily. Shark Army soldiers remained roaming around, their numbers growing as Garmadon had taken over. Their trip to the docks was uneventful and when they finally reached their destination Leah saw Lloyd staring at the sunken remains of the _Destiny’s Bounty_. They climbed over a pile of rubble, alerting Lloyd to their presence. Lloyd’s eyes widened, “Oh my gosh, you guys are okay!”

“Barely,” Nya raised an eyebrow.

Cole shook his head in frustration, “You used the Ultimate Weapon. Not cool.”

Kai nodded, “Dude, our mechs are totaled.”

Jay bit his lip, “We were the only people that didn’t hate you, and now we hate you!”

Zane looked away, “Deleting all data related to treating Lloyd as a friend.”

Lloyd winced at all their cruel comments. “Guys, I’m sorry. I put everyone in danger and now Master Wu is dead.” He gestured to the water where Leah could see the broken parts of the _Bounty_ on the ocean floor. Suddenly Master Wu popped up from the rubble, “Hello, students.”

“MASTER WU!” everyone exclaimed. Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief, “You’re alive!”

Master Wu rolled his eyes as if, and it was, what Lloyd said was obvious. “Duh, I’m a ninja master. If I was gonna die, it would be to teach you a lesson. Lloyd, you have awakened Meowthra.”

“Meowthra?” they all asked at the same time.

“Yes, Meowthra. The six-toed fluffy demon, with her sandpaper tongue. Her reign of terror will stretch on and on until all of Ninjago is her own personal litter box. There’s only one hope, one thing that can drive Meowthra away… the Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon!”

Everyone gasped and Nya was the one to ask, “Where is this thing?”

“On the other side of the island,” Master Wu pointed with his staff to the rest of the island; a mere forest to their eyes from the distance between them and it, “Hidden where only a true ninja master can find it. You must follow the right path, otherwise you will end up trapped in the deadly Jungle of Lost Souls, unable to cross the Bridge of Fallen Mentors, and mired in the Canyon of General Unhappiness. And if you’re still alive, you’ll be crushed by the Temple of Fragile Foundations. It’s a journey many have tried and none have returned.”

Lloyd cleared his throat, “…That does sound difficult, but you know what? We’re ready.”

“No, you’re not. It will take great patience, courage, and hard work. All the skills of a true ninja master. So, I will make this journey on my own. Bye!” the ninja master darted away, walking down the sidewalk of the docks towards the forest. Everyone scrambled after him, “Wait, wait, wait!”

The Green Ninja managed to reach the old man, “Master Wu, I know I let Ninjago down.”

Jay intervened, “It’s true, Lloyd let Ninjago down- sorry, dude- and we want to fix his terrible mistake.”

“Train us to be true ninja,” Kai pleaded.

“We have the potential,” Nya insisted.

Leah had stayed silent throughout all of this because she knew she really didn’t have a right to be here. In her mind, she still really wasn’t one of them. She had no elemental power like the others that Master Wu persisted about, she didn’t know her way around a punch, and she just didn’t know much about being a ninja all around. Skylor had been quiet too, probably because she wasn’t on the team at all.

Lloyd stepped in front of the ninja master, “Please, Master Wu. You can’t do this alone. I know we’re not ninja masters yet, but you said it yourself- it’s important to look at things differently. Is there anything I can do to change your point of view?”

Master Wu slowed to a halt and ran his hand through his long beard. “Hmm… Students, are you willing to give Lloyd a second chance?”

Nya, Cole, Kai, Jay, and Zane all immediately started shaking their heads and muttering their doubts. Master Wu looked back at Lloyd, “Lloyd, you have a long way to go to regain your friends’ trust. Luckily, there’s a long journey ahead of us.”

Lloyd put his hands together and bowed his head, “Thank you, Master Wu, thank you.”

“The fate of Ninjago is in your hands,” the old man said to all of them. “Are you ready?”

Everyone cheered and their master started leading the way again. After a few moments, though, Kai looked back at Skylor. “Are we taking Skylor with us? Also, she knows our secret identities probably, since we all took our hoods off, and she isn’t part of the team…”

Master Wu laughed, “She isn’t? Maybe _you_ should look at things from a different point of view. There are different ways to be a hero or a ninja, not just someone who rides giant useless mechs against Garmadon.” He studied the redhead closer. “She is more like all of you than you realize. You will know why in time.”

***

The rest of the day seemed like an eternity. They traveled through the Jungle of Lost Souls until four in the evening, all the while Master Wu playing _Welcome to the Jungle_ on his flute-staff. Eventually, Master Wu halted and turned to the ninja students. “Students, your elemental powers come from this lush green world- yes, even yours, Leah. Music does not have to be made by humans. Bird song, for example, is music. All sound is music; all you have to do is look at it like it _is_ music.”

“Wait a second,” Leah frowned, “Music is actually an element?”

Her uncle raised an eyebrow, “If you did not have an element, I would not have advised Lloyd to add you to the ninja team. I have been watching you closely and noticed that you cannot live without music; you are bonded to it in a way no one else is.”

Nya grinned and hooked her arm around Leah’s, “Well, that’s cool! Speaking of music, how has your battery not run out yet, Leah? You’ve been running your IPod all day.”

“Don’t you remember?” Leah looked over at Jay. “Jay tinkered with it last year and made it so the battery lasts for a week. I will _never_ be without music.”

Master Wu cleared his throat, “Attention, students! Feel the energy flowing through you.” He started doing the Art of Spinjitzu, as if he was as graceful as water. The ninja copied him, if less elegantly. “Good, good. The power is inside you. Now, say to yourself, ‘I’ve got the power’!” The old man started playing the famous song _The Power_ on his flute-staff. The ninja continued doing Spinjitzu and at the right moment all said, “I’ve got the power!”

Suddenly Master Wu stopped. “What was that?” he said to himself. “I sense the presence of evil.” He then looked back at the teenagers. “Students, a true ninja knows when to fight and when to become one with the elements. Quickly, blend in the shadows.”

The ninja all ducked behind the slender trees, their gis shining out bright from their terrible hiding places. Leah ducked onto the ground and threw leaves over her back, hoping they covered her. Master Wu’s sigh told her they didn’t. “You are all terrible ninja- except for you, Skylor. Good job.” They all looked up to see Skylor had climbed a tree and had completely flattened and twisted around a branch. With her orange outfit against the brown bark, she looked like a clump of autumn leaves that had refused to fall. Master Wu darted away, saying as he left, “I will take care of Garmadon on my own.”

Skylor heaved a sigh, “I guess we’ll just stay here.”

Before Master Wu could get that far away though, Garmadon appeared from the forest and they ran into each other. Leah’s breath hitched at the sight of her father. _Oh gosh, I’m going to meet my father after all this time- for real. He’s going to know who I am._ The two faced each other down, Master Wu in a battle pose while Garmadon plainly stood. “Oh, hello brother,” Garmadon grinned. “Where are your little ninja ner- ninja- where are your little ninja nerds? Pfft, nailed it.”

“They are surrounding you,” Master Wu lied, “Perfectly hidden. Ready to strike.”

“Oh, really?” Garmadon looked over at the terribly hidden ninja. Cole cawed like a bird as to pretend he was a bird. Master Wu looked over at them, “Students, next lesson. How to fight like a true ninja-” He was interrupted by Garmadon punching him in the stomach. In retaliation, the wise sensei wacked Garmadon with his staff. The two continued to fight, heading farther away. “We are totes blending in right now,” Jay whispered. In a cloud of dust Master Wu and Garmadon flashed by, their master saying as they passed, “I can still see you!”

Nya frowned, “Aw, man!”

“Come on,” Lloyd got down from his perch and beckoned the rest of them to follow the two ninja masters, “This way.”

By the time they caught up to them, they were fighting on an old wooden bridge that spanned over a giant canyon. The ninja watched as back and forth the ninja masters gained and lost the upper hand- or hands in Garmadon’s case. Suddenly Master Wu started building something around Garmadon with the bamboo trees nearby. “I call it the Caged Monkey!” they heard his faint voice. Indeed; the finished production was a giant cage that was impossible to get out of. Garmadon face-palmed, “Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me.” The ninja all gasped in awe- Zane quite literally as he said, “Gasp.”

Master Wu turned back to his students and shouted, “And that, my students, is how you fight like a true ninja.”

“Huh,” Garmadon crossed both sets of his arms, “Well, a true ninja would have counted all seven butterflies.”

“What? I did, one, two, three, four, five, six-”

“-Seven.”

The ninja all cried out in panic as they watched a red-and-black butterfly flap right up to Master Wu’s face. Master Wu scrambled away, right over the edge of the bridge. Leah screamed, “UNCLE WU!” The world stopped around her and then started closing in. Her breath came quicker, the edges of her vision started turning black. _No, no, no, not Uncle Wu… Not him…_ Not one of the four people in her life that truly, truly mattered. Everyone’s voices became faint as she became light-headed. Someone stabilized her with strong arms. “Leah,” came Nya’s voice, “It’s okay. Leah?”

If Master Wu had died, who would be next? Lloyd? Koko? Nya? Would they all die to stop the evil monster Meowthra? Would Leah die? _If they’re all going to die, what’s the point of me living? I can’t live on. I won’t live on._ She held her breath. The edges of her vision became even darker. Someone was shaking her, “Leah! Stop it! Breathe! Please, I need you!”

Something about the tone of Nya’s voice made Leah breathe. Something was there that wasn’t in anybody else. _Real love, perhaps? Not love forced upon by blood?_ The air that filled her lungs was so sweet. She gasped for more of it. Nya hugged her, “Leah, don’t _ever_ do that again. It’s gonna be okay. Don’t kill yourself, please.”

Leah stayed silent, shivering in Nya’s grasp. She’d been so close to ending her pain. Nya had pulled her back. Leah’s arms slithered around Nya to return the hug. “Thank you,” the Music Ninja murmured.

“Well, well, well,” Garmadon said from his bamboo cage. The ninja all turned to him, approaching the bridge. Leah and Nya remained where they were, watching from afar. “Looks like your precious ninja master’s gone. Now, come on, Luh-Lloyd. Open the cage. Let out your papa.”

“So,” Lloyd glared at him, “ _Now_ you wanna be my dad?”

“I’m not gonna ask you again, Luh-Lloyd. Open the cage right now. One… two… three…” When Lloyd continued to stay stock-still Garmadon furrowed his eyebrows. “Hmm. I thought that was supposed to work with kids. Listen, Luh-Lloyd, and friends whose names I don’t know-”

“I’m Jay!”

“It’s not a question.”

“Oh.”

“Now, for you to make it through this journey alive, you’re gonna need someone to teach you the ninja way.”

Lloyd crossed his arms, “What do _you_ know about being a ninja?”

“Oh, I know plenty, Luh-Lloyd. You don’t get to be a warlord without knowing a thing or two about the ninja arts. The _dark_ ninja arts.”

Kai’s eyes widened, “You’re a ninja?”

“Indeed, I am. As a matter of fact, I wrote the book on Ninjelligence.”

“We don’t need your book, Garmadon,” Lloyd gritted his teeth. “Wu is our master.”

“Well, Wu is gone. And you’re gonna need me to get you out of this jungle or you’re all gonna die. And while I’m keeping you alive, maybe I’ll teach you some of my sick dark ninja moves, like the Buzzkill, or the Miso Slap, or the Chainsaw Chop, or the Dance of Doom.”

Lloyd put his hands up in signal for Garmadon to stop. “Hang on just a second, this is Garmadon we’re talking about. We can still make it to the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon on our own. We just have to remember what Master Wu taught us.”

Cole stepped forward, “All I can remember is we really need a ninja master. And _you_ are not a ninja master.”

Everyone went silent and Leah thought it over in her head. _If we leave Garmadon here, he’ll die and we won’t have to deal with him anymore. If we take him with us, there’s a chance he’ll escape and take the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon for himself. But without him I don’t think we can figure out the right way to the Temple of Fragile Foundations._

“So,” Kai asked, “What are we gonna do?”

Lloyd heaved an enormous sigh, “We take him.”

“Fantastic!” Garmadon grinned.


	7. "I Got a Name"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lloyd and Garmadon manage to get themselves kidnapped, Leah has a tough time dealing with, and they go to rescue them. What more could you ask for?

The ninja set off again, continuing to follow the trail that Master Wu had led them on before. Jay, Kai, Cole, and Nya were carrying Garmadon’s cage at the four different corners, leaving Lloyd, Leah, Skylor, and Zane free. They were still navigating their way through the jungle by dusk. The entire journey Garmadon had been talking non-stop.

“You know what’s funny?” Garmadon was saying now. “I had Luh-Lloyd when I was 158 years old.” They all wowed and oohed, everyone but Lloyd and Leah, and then Nya frowned. “Wait a minute, you’re 174?”

“Yes.”

Cole joined in, “Master Wu says he’s 167, and he’s your younger brother?”

“He’s my younger brother, correct.”

“How’s that possible? You look much… younger.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Jay looked up at the evil warlord, genuinely interested, “Do you moisturize?”

“Yes, that’s when I got the upper hand on Master Wu.”

“‘Upper hands’.”

“Yeah, upper hands.”

Kai then raised his hand, striking Garmadon with a question, “How’d you gain two arms?”

Jay winced, “Oh, don’t put it like that.”

Nya shook her head, “I don’t know if that’s the best way to say it.”

The Fire Ninja shrugged, not knowing his mistake, “Well, he’s got four arms!”

“You know,” Garmadon nodded to Kai, “A lot of people don’t ask me about it. So, I’m glad he’s comfortable asking. Lloyd’s never asked me once about my arms, have you, Lloyd?” When he got no response from his son he continued. “I was bit by a snake.” The ninja all whispered their doubts. Jay asked, “So, the snake had a bunch of arms?” Kai shook his head, “They don’t have arms.” “Do you mean a spider?” the Lightning Ninja tried again.

“Oh, no, I was bit by a snake, and the snake had been bitten by a spider, and then the snake bit me.”

Lloyd threw his hands up into the air, “Are you guys actually buying any of this?”

“How else would you explain it, Luh-Lloyd? You weren’t there.”

“So,” Jay hesitated before continuing, “When the two extra arms started growing were you like, ‘yes this is awesome’, or were you like, ‘oh no’?”

“No, at first, I was totally freaked out and sometimes I get self-conscious about it.”

Silence drifted through them and Leah was thankful for it. She hadn’t removed her hood since they’d met Garmadon, not wanting to know that his daughter, too, was a ninja. She and Lloyd were walking together ahead of the group. Garmadon then started talking again. “Hey, who’s your silent friend in the purple gi? I haven’t heard them talk even _once_. If you want us to stop talking about my arms because you’re not comfortable with it, we can stop, Silent Ninja.”

 _I Got a Name_ started just like that on her IPod and she smiled slightly. Her IPod seemed like a real, living creature sometimes. Leah didn’t answer Garmadon, instead choosing to ignore him. Garmadon huffed in annoyance. _Serves him right._ Jay then cleared his throat, “Hey, uh, Garmadon, can I ask you another question?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“It’s about the arms. Um, can you shake your own hand?”

“Look!” the 174-year-old man started shaking his own hands, the ones on the right and the ones on the left. “Check it out, ninja.” They all started laughing and Jay beamed, “He’s his own best friend!”

Garmadon, fueled by their light-heartedness, turned around. “Look at this,” he put his arms behind his back and waved them around. “This is one of my favorite things- I look like I’m making out with two people, don’t I?” Everyone burst out laughing again, even harder this time. Leah couldn’t help but grin; it was too funny. Lloyd, though, was not impressed. “Hey, uh, you know what? We should, uh, we should be practicing silence right now.”

They all went silent and Jay looked down, “Sorry.” Then he looked back up, “It’s just, when you talk I don’t wanna listen, but when he talks I wanna listen!”

“I’ve always said he’s weak-voiced,” Garmadon nodded.

Lloyd glared at them, “I think we’re gettin’ off point a little bit, just a little bit.”

“You see what I mean about the weak voice? ‘Like a little bit’?” Garmadon did an impression in Lloyd’s voice. “That’s how he talks.” The ninja egged him on and he repeated it. While the ninja resumed their laugh track Lloyd became even more frustrated, “Oh, that’s not how I… that doesn’t sound like me.”

“‘He sounds more like this’,” Kai did a nearly perfect impression of the Green Ninja, and even Leah snorted with laughter, which earned her a death glare from her brother. Skylor, who’d been silent the whole time as well, chortled. Garmadon coughed into his hand, “I betcha I can do an impression of that Silent Ninja, listen.” He stopped talking for a few moments before the rest of the ninja realized the joke. Their laughter, though, was more hesitant than when they’d laughed at Lloyd. Leah shook her head, laughing internally and a smile glued to her face. To be fair, it was a good joke. _Am I actually starting to like_ the _Lord Garmadon?_

“She’s not usually _this_ quiet,” Kai commented, slightly awkward from laughing at his friend. Leah shrugged, “Eh, debatable.” Then she realized her mistake and her eyes widened. Lord Garmadon’s narrowed as he studied her more closely. “Wait a minute… I recognized your voice. Where could I have possibly heard it? Are you some kind of news reporter?”

A snort escaped Leah and she shook her head. She thought of the first word she’d ever spoken. _If he realizes who I am from hearing me say what Koko told me was my very first word, then he deserves to know who I am._ “Flubber-rubber-gubber-gain,” Leah burst out. Everyone just stared at her before Garmadon gasped. “Wait a second- you’re Leah! Lloyd’s twin! I can’t believe it- you’re the Silent Ninja?”

“Music Ninja,” she corrected. Zane then said, “My sensors indicate a fork in the road.”

The whole team looked just up ahead to see quite the obvious fork. A signpost was in between the two roads; to the right was the Right Path, and on the left was a Shortcut, according to the signs. Nya read the signs aloud, “Hmm, the Right Path is long, and arduous, and enlightening. And the left… a shortcut!”

Jay gulped, reading the text below _Shortcut_ , which said in parenthesis _possible evil skeleton graveyard_. “Why would they say ‘possible’? They would know, right?”

Garmadon gripped the bars of his cage, “We’re takin’ the shortcut, let’s roll!”

“No, no,” Lloyd shook his head. “Okay, just wait. Master Wu said we should stay on the right path.”

“What?!” Garmadon exclaimed. “You wanna listen to the guy who fell off the bridge or the guy who didn’t fall off the bridge?” The ninja all exchanged glances and then wordlessly turned left and started heading down the darker road.

After walking for a few minutes Leah started to get a little nervous. Tall, leafy trees stretched extremely high up, blocking the sun. What sunlight did filter through was faded, as nightfall was coming upon them. Skeletons littered the path, reminding Leah of the third _The Lord of the Rings_ movie, _Return of the King_. Jay spoke up eventually, “Hey, uh, Zane, could you record this and then never play it back to me?” Zane’s optimistic voice responded, “Yes!”

“Um… guys?” Kai bit his lip anxiously, not needing to finish his question. Nya looked around, her brow knitted her nervousness. “Maybe this isn’t such a great idea.”

“ _This_ place isn’t creepy,” Skylor commented sarcastically.

Jay whimpered, “This is my least favorite place I’ve ever been in.”

Faint laughing echoed throughout their surroundings, which were creepy fallen, ruined buildings. Lloyd cocked his head, “Did you hear that?” Then people starting popping up from the roofs of the buildings, and they all started walking backwards. Lloyd led the charge, “We’re backing it out, we’re backing out, WE’RE BACKING OUT, back it, continue to back it out, continue to back it out!”

They all were screaming as they ran as fast as they could while carrying Garmadon’s cage, running back down the Shortcut. Before they could make it, though, they were blocked off by more of the strange people. The team all started voicing their many questions until Garmadon spoke louder than them, “Wait a minute- oh my gosh, Luh-Lloyd, they look like my former General Number Ones! You guys look great! Your skin has such a lovely glow. Have you all been tanning lately or something?”

The strange people struck torches, indeed revealing themselves to be Generals. One of the ones in front- a woman in a lionfish outfit- stepped forward. “We were fired… out of a _volcano_.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Garmadon realized his mistake, “Right, right, right. Yeah, but other than that, you’re well?”

Lloyd gulped, “Uh, Garmadon, did you fire _all_ of these generals out of a volcano?”

As the generals started to make their way closer Garmadon responded, “No! Not all at the same time. Don’t worry, these guys are like family; they love me! Right, generals?”

The generals all laughed maniacally and the lionfish lady grinned, pointing a sword at them. “Oh, we’re family all right.”

The ninja team yelled their catchphrase, “Ninja… go!”, before darting away to fight the generals. Lloyd and Leah stayed back with Garmadon, Lloyd shouting after his friends, “Guys, wait! We need to use our ninja powers!”

Skylor shoved two generals into each other, “Don’t ask me to, I don’t have any!”

As he wacked a general in their face Jay asked, “What do we do? We’re worthless without our mechs!”

Lloyd kicked a few generals away from his sister, while she cowered next to Garmadon, as she still hadn’t learned anything about martial arts. “Come on, remember what Master Wu told us! Nya, you can make a flood to wash these guys outta here!”

Nya shook her head, throwing two of the generals across the now-battlefield. “The only hope for water is if Jay has another accident in his pants!”

“Yeah,” Jay agreed, “She’s right! We gotta get outta here!”

“No!” Lloyd shouted, “No, guys! Use your elemental powers! We have the power!”

Just then, more generals swarmed over the hill. The other ninja took off into the jungle and Lloyd looked over his shoulder at Leah. “Run, Leah, join up with the others! _Run_!”

Leah squeaked with fright and wondered if she should let the generals kill her- stick her through with a spear, hack her head from her shoulders with a sword, cut off her legs and arms with a chainsaw. But the love and fear for Leah in Lloyd’s eyes made her stand up and take off, running as she’d never run before after her other friends.

The jungle was absolutely frightening. The grass reached her hips, the trees towered above her, and animals skittered around unseen. She wandered aimlessly, trying desperately to find the others. “Nya!” she called out, begging the universe to please let her girlfriend hear her. “Nya, where are you!?”

“Leah?” Jay appeared from behind a tree and she screamed, tripping over her own feet and falling onto her back. The Lightning Ninja rushed over, “Oh gosh, did one of them follow you?! Where are they?! Where should we run?!”

“It’s nothing,” Leah shook her head, a hand on her heart. “You just scared me, that’s all.”

“Oh,” he blushed at his instant fright. He sat down next to her. “What’re we gonna do? Everyone is somewhere else!” Silence stretched between them before he continued. “I’ve actually been meaning to get you alone, Leah. I needed to talk to you about… about um… Nya.”

Leah sat up straight, terror rushing through her. Did he know? Had Lloyd told him? Had he seen one of the private kisses she and Nya had shared earlier on their journey through the jungle? There was no other thing he could possibly want to talk to her about that revolved around Nya. But she’d give him a chance- perhaps he didn’t care. “W-What about her?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I’ve come to the conclusion that-”

Nya suddenly catapulted out of the bushes and landed in front of them. Jay screamed like a little girl and curled up into a ball. The Water Ninja chuckled, “Hey.” A muffled reply came from Jay, but their attention turned to Zane as the nindroid rolled out from behind a tree, “Pew, pew, pew!” Nya ran up to him, “Zane, are you okay?”

He gave her an inquisitive look, “I think I might be an adrenaline junkie.”

Kai then appeared in the distance, holding Cole over his shoulder as he ran towards them, “I got you, dude! I got you!” Cole rolled his eyes, “I really could’ve walked out by myself but thank you.” Kai threw him on the ground in front of the others and the Earth Ninja laid there, still as a stone, “Ow.” Jay gasped and dropped beside him, “Oh no! Did they hurt you?! Is that why Kai carried you out?!”

“No,” Cole responded, “I think Kai got caught up in the moment and thought I was some damsel in distress.”

Skylor was the last to show up; she dropped down from a tree in a perfect action pose, making Kai gape at her in awe. “Am I late for the party? Darn, I should’ve brought noodles.”

“Wait,” Nya looked around, “Where’s Lloyd?”

Leah put her head on her knees, hugging her legs. “He made me leave him behind with Garmadon. The generals- they- they got him.” Her chest constricted and it became harder to breathe. The reality of what had happened started to set in. _Lloyd… they’re going to kill him… I should’ve made_ him _run, and they could’ve killed me instead…_ One by one, the people she loved were all dying. _I wonder if Meowthra’s killed Koko yet- what if that monster has? The only person I truly have is Nya. Oh gosh, Nya’s gonna die too, and then Cole, and then everyone else. Every person I’ve ever loved is going to die at the hands of Meowthra, some generals, and some other great evil that’ll find._ She brought her hands up to her neck and placed them gently on top and on bottom of her head. _I can’t do this. There’s nothing to live for. Why run from the inevitable?_

“Leah, NO!” Nya tackled her and pinned her arms down. “Stop it! Don’t freaking _kill_ yourself! We don’t know if Lloyd’s dead yet, which means he might still be alive. And we need you- _I_ need you.” Leah tried to fight against Nya, but Nya was so, so much stronger than her. Leah felt tears running down her cheeks as she desperately tried to reach her neck, one of the easiest ways to kill yourself. _Just snap it- then it’ll be over. Everything will be over._ Nya wouldn’t let her, though. Leah held her breath then, waiting for the blackness to seep over her like she’d done at the Bridge of Falling Mentors. The edges of her vision started to fade. Nya’s voice screamed her name, begging her to stop. Begging her to _live_. _I can’t, I’m so sorry, I just can’t go on anymore. It’s useless._

But then air found its way to her lungs. Her vision cleared to see that Nya was… kissing her? No, she wasn’t- she was doing a sort of CPR. _Making_ her breathe. _Making_ her live. Tears of pure desperation poured from Leah’s eyes. _Stop it, Nya, stop it! Let me die! Let me go!_ But Nya continued to breathe life into her, on and on and on- until she finally gave up. Leah let herself breathe in sweet air and Nya pulled back. She’d obviously been crying too; her eyes were red and puffy. “Don’t make me do that again,” the Water Ninja whispered. The other ninja were all sitting down, staring at her. Leah pulled away from Nya, shivering with cold and desperation. “Why didn’t you let me die?” the Music Ninja asked. _Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)_ ended and _Under the Water_ began.

Nya was taken aback. “Why _would_ I? Leah, you’re my best friend, I’m not going to let you kill yourself. I know everything seems bad right now, but we can’t lose you. Not just after we lost Lloyd and Master Wu. We need you, Leah.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, we do!”

“I’m _worthless_ , I’m the daughter of an evil warlord, and I should’ve been shot by some person who wanted to rid the world of me right through my skull. At least I would’ve died hearing the ringing of it. The last bit of music, _ring_ , _ring_ , _ring_ …” But she didn’t bother trying to snap her neck again. Nya was still hovering over her, ready to pin her down again.

Her secret girlfriend shook her head, “No. Don’t say that. Hey, remember that movie _It’s a Wonderful Life_? Remember the guy who wished he’d never been born? The world turned out to be so much worse. But he, one man, in his lifetime managed to make the world a better place. And everyone loved him. They loved him because he was a good man who did great things, and he didn’t even see it. Oh, and you know that song by the stupid _One Direction_ band, _What Makes You Beautiful_? I’ll sing it to you- let me put the song on.” She changed the song on her IPod and unplugged the earbuds.

“ _You’re insecure, don’t know what for. You’re turning heads when you walk through the door. Don’t need make-up to cover up being the way that you are is enough. Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you. Baby, you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, but when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful. If only you saw what I can see, you’ll understand why I want you so desperately, right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful, oh, oh. That’s what makes you beautiful._

“ _So come on you got it wrong, to prove I’m right I put it in a song. I don’t know why you’re being shy and turn away when I look into your eye-eye-eyes. Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you. Baby, you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, but when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful. If only you saw what I can see, you’ll understand why I want you so desperately, right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful, oh, oh. That’s what makes you beautiful._

“ _Baby, you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, but when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful. Baby, you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, but when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful. If only you saw what I can see, you’ll understand why I want you so desperately, right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe you don’t know, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful, oh, oh, you don’t know you’re beautiful, oh, oh, that’s what makes you beautiful._ ”

Skylor cleared his throat, “Nice singing, but that sounds more like a love song, like a _real_ love song, than a ‘we all love you don’t kill yourself’ song.”

“Gosh, Skylor,” she muttered, “Just had to ruin the moment, didn’t ya?”

Leah stared into Nya’s eyes and then heaved a sigh. “Okay, I- I won’t try to kill myself. Until we find out Lloyd’s dead, at least.” She stood up and redid her ponytail. “Speaking of which, we need to find him. Anybody got a plan?”

Cole frowned, “Wait, guys, do you hear that?”

They all went silent, Leah plugging her earbuds back in and putting them in her ears, and then went over the next hill to see in the distance a giant volcano. Very, _very_ faint voices could be heard. “Fire him! Fire him!” And, inside a cage with Garmadon, was Lloyd. “LLOYD!” everyone yelled together. Cole’s eyes narrowed, “He’s in trouble!”

Kai pulled on his ninja hood, “Aw man, what are we gonna do?”

Nya gazed at her fellow ninja teammates, “We can still do this, guys. We just gotta figure out how to be real ninja.”

Jay fiddled with his hands, “You know what would be really brave? Making camp, sleeping for the night, wake up in the day…”

Kai snorted, “Yeah, _that’s_ brave.”

“Wait,” Nya raised a hand, “Zane, don’t you have like seven hundred gigabytes of martial arts movies on your hard drive?”

“Correct!”

“Great, roll ‘em!”

In the next ten minutes they watched clips from different martial arts movies, instructing them on how to fight like a real ninja and how to be sneaky like one. Finally, _finally_ , Leah knew how to do some fighting. Nya was still adrenalized from it, “I learned so many things so fast.”

Skylor shrugged, “Eh, I already knew all that stuff.”

Cole splattered some mud on his face, “Time to get down and dirty ninja style.”

The ninja split up for the time being, sneaking closer and into the camp. They then all met on one of the rooftops. Leah looked around, “Where to next?” Nya nodded to her, “Time to blend in.”

Jay gasped, “Can we _please_ do silent takedowns like Batman does in his video games?”

Everyone heaved a sigh, remembering Jay’s obsession with video games. Cole rolled his eyes teasingly, “Whatever, Jay.” They quietly slipped down from the roof and knocked out seven generals, taking their helmets and armor pieces as to pretend to be generals themselves. Leah had trouble breathing in her bubble-helmet-thing, and the chest armor was constricting. _Gosh, no wonder why these generals hate Garmadon- what kind of person would make their entire army wear costumes like these?_

They made their way through the city, climbing their way towards the top of the volcano where Garmadon and Lloyd were kept caged, about to be dumped into the magma. They quickly took care of the guards and faced the two captives. “LLOYD!” they shouted together, grinning at him widely. His eyes lit up profoundly, “Guys! Oh my gosh! How did you all get up here?”

“Aw, man,” Kai whipped his helmet off, swishing his hair to cool. “We did all that stuff that you and Master Wu told us to do. Ninja style, bro!”

“Alright,” Nya punched her brother’s shoulder gently, “Let’s get outta here and make it to the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon.” She opened the cage and Garmadon and Lloyd strolled out. Garmadon’s face darkened as he saw something behind them, “That’s not gonna be easy, girl ninja, because I fired a _ridic_ amount of generals.”

Leah turned around and let out a small gasp. _Thousands_ of fired generals were swarming towards them from below like ants, holding torches and weapons of all kinds. They lit up the dark city like stars in the night sky. Lloyd bit his lip anxiously, “All right, all right, I got an idea. If we can hold these generals off long enough, we can build a way outta here.”

Garmadon gave his son his signature grin. “Great idea; you kids start building, Luh-Lloyd and I will throw you bricks.”

The team spilt off into pairs to start building. Leah and Nya obviously joined up and while Nya started gathering stray pieces I brainstormed. “We can’t build a land vehicle, otherwise they’ll just block our way out and take us apart. We need to go into the sky, which means we have three choices; a jet, a plane, or a helicopter.”

The Water Ninja picked up a giant blade piece. “Let’s go for a helicopter! Not that many tires around here anyway. What color do you want it?”

“Silver.”

“How about purple?”

“Nah, silver’s always been partial to me,” Leah flirted, winking at her secret girlfriend. “By the way, I know you didn’t sing me _What Makes You Beautiful_ on everyone’s behalf. You couldn’t really be more obvious about our relationship.”

Nya tapped Leah’s nose like she used to when they were kids. “Of _course_ I didn’t sing it for them. I just wanted to remind you how much I love you. And I love you more than anything in the world.” She looked around, making sure nobody was watching, and gave Leah a quick kiss. “Leah, after this is over I want you to think about keeping _us_ a secret. I know you don’t want to hurt Jay’s feelings, but it’s just so hard. Every time I see you I want to kiss you, I want to say I love you, but I can’t because other people are watching. Just think about it, okay babe?”

Leah smiled at being called ‘babe’. “Alright, I’ll think about it. For you.”

“’KAY, GUYS,” Nya shouted to the others, “BUILD A SILVER HELICOPTER!”

“Right, sis!” Kai replied. “Lloyd, I need a flat two-by-two!”

Lloyd grinned, picking one up, “Here it comes!” The Green Ninja flung his arm and… the brick flopped onto the ground. Zane blinked, “That was terrible.”

Nya waved at Leah’s brother, “Throw me a couple one-bys.”

“I got it, check this out!” Once again he failed and the one-bys dropped onto the ground. Kai furrowed his eyebrows, “How can you be so bad at this?” Cole winced, “Yeah, you got a mental block?”

Garmadon raised his arms for them to stop, “Hang on, everybody. You ninja, keep at it. Luh-Lloyd, you’re coming with me. I’ll be in charge of the tunes. I’ll just put it on shuffle here… please not Jim Croce, please not Jim Croce… Ah! Jinxed us, whatever. All right, ninja, keep building! Luh-Lloyd, I’m gonna teach you how to throw!” _I Got a Name_ started playing from his phone and Leah smiled, remembering she’d listened to it earlier that day. The ninja all jumped on the base skeleton of the helicopter they’d constructed and rolled it off the top platform, landing on the ground far below in the midst of all the generals.

While Lloyd and Garmadon split off, the rest of the ninja team continued building the helicopter. Leah grabbed a nearby two-by-ten and stuck it on the side, not really thinking it would actually be useful just as much making it look like a real helicopter. Kai frowned at it, “Maybe we should put that on the top…” Leah shrugged, “Fine by me.”

Jay then almost fell off the side of the helicopter, but Cole grabbed his hand and pulled him up. “You okay?” the Earth Ninja asked. Jay, blushing, nodded, “Uh-huh.”

Lloyd threw them some bricks with the advice of Garmadon and Leah smiled at her twin brother. _He’s actually happy for once, and that makes_ me _happy._ While Garmadon jumped back onto the helicopter, Lloyd stayed on one of the roofs and picked up a giant four-blade piece. “All right, here it comes!”

Leah looked up just to see one of the generals, with the scariest smile on her face, appear behind him and tackle him off the top. They plummeted down on the other side of the entrance to the city. Everyone on the helicopter screamed and burst through the city entrance, zooming right by Lloyd. Garmadon floored the brakes and jumped out of the helicopter, the others following close behind. “Luh-Lloyd!” Garmadon pulled Lloyd onto his lap. “Are you okay?”

Lloyd nodded weakly, raising his right shoulder. “Yeah, yeah! I think it was my arm. Is it- is it bad?” Leah’s eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into Nya’s arms at the sight of Lloyd’s condition; his entire arm was gone! Everyone’s voices faded as the blood roaring in her ears became louder. _Oh no. Lloyd’s gonna die, I’ll only be left with Nya, Koko, and maybe Garmadon. My twin brother is gonna die. Oh gosh, no…_

Someone was carrying her away from her brother. _No, stop, let me die with him._ Nya was saying something. Leah couldn’t hear her, though… until Nya said, “Oh look! They’re coming, and Lloyd’s got his arm back!”

“WHERE?!” Leah sat up and spotted the two making their way towards the helicopter, the army of generals right on their heels. The rest of the ninja team was waiting with Leah and Nya. Garmadon and Lloyd jumped on and Lloyd took the controls of the copter, “Let’s get moving.” The helicopter lifted off the ground, away from the evil generals and into the clouds high above. Leah breathed in the clean, fresh air. _And on to the temple we go._


	8. "The Power"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so they arrive at the temple and romantic feelings come to light.

They flew above the clouds, barely able to see as they only had moonlight to go by. Leah breathed in the sweet, fresh air and sighed happily. _My brother’s alive! Oh, he’s not dead after all! We all made it through. We all survived._ It was a wondrous feeling that ballooned inside her, one that made her feel as if she were going to float away. She’d never felt actual, real live hope before. _Maybe we won’t all die._

Nya joined her, leaning against the railing and subtly taking her hand so nobody else would see. “Hey, you feeling better now?”

“Indubitably,” Leah smiled. The Water Ninja grinned, “Well, that’s new. ‘Never seen _you_ this happy before. It fits you, ya know? People are always so much better when they’re happy. Especially you, because that means you won’t be trying to choke yourself out or something.”

“‘Or something’,” the Music Ninja agreed. _Super Cool_ started playing and her foot tapped along to the solid beat. It was one of her favorite songs to listen to when she was wandering around Ninjago City. As the movie it was from, _The LEGO Movie 2; The Second Part_ , was one of the very few live action movies ever made it was widely popular. It was also historical, as the events had happened a few years before and they got the real people to act in it (except for Rex, who was played by Emmet in a costume). Nya snatched an earbud and then pulled Leah away from the railing, swinging her around in a dance. They sang along together.

“ _Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! We gotta bring both sides together like champagne and leather, like birds are with feather, we’ll fly. Like rain on a sunny day, like a million dollars that you’re givin’ away, like a stray dog on the freeway, we’ll fly! ‘Cause we’re all like a team, livin’ inside a dream, you and me doin’ our thing and we’ll fly, woo-hoo!_

“ _Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! It’s the credits, yeah that’s the best part, when the movie ends and the reading starts. You can keep your adventure and all that action ‘cause the credits of the film are the main attraction. And don’t even think about try’na leave or you might miss a name like Pam and Steve. Both incredible names, so let’s stay in our seats and read incredible lists of their incredible feats. ‘Cause we’re all like a team, livin’ inside a dream, you and me doin’ our thing and we’ll fly, woo-hoo!_

“ _Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! And we’re back, and still lovin’ the credits, can’t wait to see the one about the person who edits! And even better than that is who edits the credits, I bet I’ll never forget it ‘cause once I read it then I’m ready. I roll into the theater about 90 minutes late, skip the whole dang movie ‘cause the credits are great. Now if you’re gonna be featured on a movie song, the credits is the part that you wanna be on._

“ _Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! Unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing. Phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo-hoo! Everything is super cool right now, everything is awesome here right now. Everything is super cool right now, everything is awesome here right now. Everything is super cool right now, everything is awesome here right now. Everything is super cool right now, everything is awesome here right now._ ”

Just as the song finished the plane shot off at unbelievable speeds. Leah and Nya tumbled down to the back, gripping the ship with their lives. Leah squeezed her eyes shut and hoped she wouldn’t fly off the ship and fall to her death. Then the ship stopped and they collapsed onto the floor. Lloyd, who was driving the helicopter, must’ve turned up the accelerator on purpose for some reason. Leah stood up wobbly and took in a deep breath. “HEY, LLOYD, WATCH IT!”

“SORRY!” her brother yelled back, at the same time Garmadon shouted, “GOAT!”

The helicopter swerved sideways, crashing into some rock. Leah screamed and clutched onto Nya, who had secured herself onto the ship. They were spinning out, Leah’s stomach objecting loudly. The helicopter then went straight about ten feet before becoming a dead weight and dropping down through the clouds. Everyone was screaming in terror, Leah the loudest. _We’regonnadiewe’regonnadiewe’regonnadiewe’regonnadie_. They then crashed onto the mountain below, the ship bouncing a few times before hanging precariously over a cliff edge. The ninja team made a break for it before their weight would make the whole thing topple. Once they were all off it stabilized, however dangerously. Lloyd looked over the ninja team, his gaze resting on Leah a moment longer than the rest. “Is everyone okay?”

Everyone muttered yes, and Garmadon gestured to the sight before them. “Behold… the Temple of Fragile Foundations.”

The temple towered so high the top couldn’t be seen. Stairs from their level wound up the mountain to the structure. Giant lions- both the size of a large apartment complex- waited on either side of the double-door entrance, their eyes penetrating each of their souls. The double doors spanned half the temple face, wooden carvings of old tales decorating them. The multi-levels above the doors were classic Japanese style, the tiles old and rusted. Near the top a blue pillar of fire leapt and danced hungrily. They studied it for a moment before the ground shook violently beneath them. Garmadon continued, “The helicopter crash has destabilized the entire area. And I’m not blaming anyone, but if I ever see that goat again, he and I are gonna have words. And you can bet some of those words are gonna have four letters, and I’m not talking about ‘goat’.”

“Give us the first letter,” Nya pleaded, but Leah’s and Lloyd’s father ignored her. Instead, he led the way up the grand stairs that led to the entranceway. Once there, and it took a little while, Jay started to wring his hands. “This is my new least favorite place I’ve ever been.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time here,” Garmadon replied, “And trust me, ‘doesn’t get any better.”

Lloyd frowned in slight confusion. “Wait a minute- so, you know this place?”

“Who doesn’t know their childhood home?” he swiped the dust off the doormat with his foot to reveal two words; _The Garmadons_. The entire ninja team took a step back in fear. “Yeah, this place is so unstable I had to move to a volcano just to feel safe.” The evil warlord plucked a key from beneath the doormat and gestured to the very large doors, “Well, shall we?”

Inserting the key, they entered the scary temple. Leah clung to Nya, nervousness making her shake violently. Nya squeezed her hand reassuringly. The inside was completely dark, the only light being the moonlight that came in through the door. “Stay close,” Garmadon instructed, “I will lead you through this perilous-”

“Oh, look,” Jay flipped a switch, “A light switch.” The whole temple flooded with light, making Leah squeak and cover her eyes in pain. She then opened her eyes slightly, letting them adjust. A giant hall was opened up around her. A horse skeleton stood off to the side on display. On the far side of the room were a table, some couches, and a grand piano. A bowl of fruit lay on the table, glowing healthily. Skylor struck a defensive position while Jay looked around curiously, “Is there a bathroom I could use?” Garmadon shook his head, “Nope.”

Nya gasped at seeing the fruit, “Fresh fruit! Finally, food!” She sprinted for it and took a huge bite into it, only to recoil, “Ow, I think I chipped a tooth!”

“Yeah,” Garmadon agreed, “My parents were really into plastic fruit.”

Cole sauntered over to the other wall, on the left of the doorway, with Jay close behind. “Whoa, check out those old photos!” Indeed; twenty-three photos were gathered together on the wall, lined with shurikens and swords. The rest of the wall space was also filled with weapons of every kind. _Whoa, no wonder why Garmadon became an evil overlord._ The ninja huddled together and looked over all the pictures. Jay smiled, “Look at that!”

“They’re so cute!” Cole chuckled. Nya chortled and pointed at a baby picture of Garmadon and Master Wu. “Look at his baby goatee!” she said, meaning Master Wu. Jay then frowned at the picture, “I mean, Master Wu looks like a really old man.”

Garmadon rolled his eyes at their obsessing, “Come on, let’s go find the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon.” The ninja team started to turn away when Lloyd grabbed Leah’s wrist, “Wait… that’s, that’s you.” He pointed to a picture of Garmadon and Koko, fighting off skeletons together. Koko was wearing awesome silver body armor with a quiver of arrows on her back. “And that’s-”

Nya squealed in excitement, “It’s Lady Iron Dragon, my hero!”

“Yes,” Garmadon said quietly. “Lady Iron Dragon… aka, Luh-Lloyd’s and Leah’s mom.”

 _Go Your Own Way_ by Fleetwood Mac started playing on Leah’s IPod, filling her heart. Truly, that little device must’ve been magical; it knew which song to play at any particular time. She hummed along with it as Lloyd’s jaw dropped, “Wait, what? Mom was a _ninja_?”

“That’s right,” their father nodded. “She was the most awesome ninja warrior I’d ever seen. I remember the first time I laid eyes on her.” Then he began to tell his story, which Leah’s IPod had predicted perfectly. “It was during a raging war. I was pillaging a peaceful village with my skeleton army when I spotted this beautiful warrior queen from across a crowded battlefield. She was fighting for good and looking great doing it. Even as she decimated my evil forces, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was… speechless. I summoned all my courage to approach her. I asked her if she fought here often, she said ‘I do’. And let me tell you, Leah and Luh-Lloyd- when our eyes met, sparks flew. It was love at first fight. Your mother and I were a true power couple. I thought we were gonna conquer the world together. It was the happiest time of my life.”

Lloyd interrupted, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. If you guys were so perfect, then why did you leave us?”

“It’s… complicated.

“One day, we came upon Ninjago. I told your mother that I wanted to build our children’s futures on the ashes of that fine city. But it was at that moment that your mother realized… that the life of a conquering warlord was not the life she wanted for you. I could’ve changed… but I didn’t. And before I knew it, she was gone, and you both were gone. Luh-Lloyd, Leah, your mom was the best. She expected the best of me and only ever wanted the best for you.” He gazed sadly a picture of him, Koko, and Lloyd and Leah as babies. “I never should have let you go.”

Leah felt so, terribly so alone at that moment. The thought that her father had a _choice_ to keep them and threw it away filled her with complete sadness. But the fact that he knew it’d been the wrong decision made it even worse. She quickly left her father and brother, heading into a neighboring room with them staring after her in surprise. Nya was there, luckily alone, searching underneath a bed, since it was a gigantic bedroom. _Oh yeah- we’re going on this journey for the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon._ Leah dashed over and, as Nya stood up, wrapped her arms around the Water Ninja and started to cry. Nya’s eyes widened and she hugged her back, “Oh, baby, what’s wrong?”

There was no way for Leah to answer. Her throat had choked up as more tears came. Nya sat her down on the bed and held her tight. “It’s okay, Leah, it’s okay.” The reassuring arms around Leah calmed her down, and eventually the tears stopped. Leah then told Nya what had happened, “Garmadon told me and Lloyd what happened between him and our mom. He said that he could’ve stopped being a warlord and been with us but- but he didn’t. I could’ve had a dad.”

“You don’t need a dad, Leah,” Nya lifted her chin up so that they looked into each other’s eyes. “You never have. You’ve always been so strong- much stronger than Lloyd- and that wouldn’t change with or without Garmadon. Sure, maybe it would’ve made your life easier, but when is that any fun? I would’ve never met you, I would’ve never fallen in love with you. Just because Garmadon’s shown up and he’s kinda funny doesn’t mean you have to let him back into your life just because he wants you to.”

Leah leaned closer, just slightly, “Really?”

“Really,” Nya closed the gap between them and kissed Leah gently, her arms still wrapped around Leah. Leah kissed her back, knowing that her girlfriend was right. _I don’t need Garmadon. He’s never been there for me; why should that change?_ A metal clang startled them apart suddenly and they looked over at the doorway. There stood Jay, his flail rolling across the floor. Leah’s heart zoomed and she could’ve sworn she had died. _Oh no, oh gosh no, this can’t be happening._

“You-” Jay stuttered, “You- you guys- you’re together?”

Nya nodded very slowly. The Lightning Ninja looked over at Leah, still stunned, “For how long? Have we really not noticed?”

Leah bit her lip, “Since Meowthra destroyed Ninjago City.”

The three of them went silent, staring at one another in turn. Finally, after about a full twenty seconds, a smile lit up Jay’s face. “I can’t believe it! This is _amazing_! You guys are literally _perfect_ for each other! Why didn’t you tell any of us? There’s literally no reason to-” he then stopped midsentence as he realized why. “Oh… well, it’s Nya’s fault this wasn’t settled back in the Uncrossable Jungle!”

“What?” Nya blinked in confusion.

“I was going to tell Leah I didn’t have a crush on you anymore after we escaped the generals the first time when you appeared out of the blue! Oh man, I had been trying to summon up my courage to tell Leah because I wasn’t sure she would approve, but this changes everything! I am so happy for you guys, on so many levels!” Jay was beaming, a literal beacon of happiness. “Now that I know about you guys being a thing, I have something to tell you.”

Leah sat up straight, “Well, spit it out!”

He hesitated then, “Well, you see, about a month ago my crush on Nya came to a halt. I didn’t know why until about a week before Lloyd’s birthday. Long story short-”

“TOO LATE!”

“-I was heading to the _Bounty_ for a training session with Cole. When I got there we started training and then I slipped and fell on top of him and then it was super embarrassing and then afterwards I realized I had a crush on him.” He took a long breath, blushing dark red. “I have no idea what to do. I don’t know if he’s bi or gay, or whether he likes me back, and I just can’t tell him, no matter how hard I try.”

Nya and Leah exchanged glances, both gaping. Leah then nodded, “Okay, so that actually makes sense. You were worried about him when Kai carried him front the battlefield, and you were blushing when he saved your life at the generals’ place. What you need to do is get him to listen to some song and sing it with him.”

“Um,” Nya put her hands on her hips, “I _really_ don’t think that’ll work.”

“Oh, really? Cole loves music maybe just as much as me. You got me to kiss you after singing _Shake It Off_. Cole just needs more of a rock song- oh, Jay, you sing him _Tiptoe_ by Imagine Dragons and he will literally fall in love with you, and after _Tiptoe_ you gotta sing _Rocks_.” Leah then took a huge breath and pulled her IPod out. “Okay, Jay, I’m trusting you not to break this. My life is in your hands. My very _soul_ is this IPod. I don’t know how long I can last without it. You take Cole somewhere private in this temple and do what I told you, and then come straight back with this.”

Jay nodded seriously and received the IPod delicately. Leah pocketed her earbuds and immediately felt a strange feeling wash over her. For the first time in years she had no music playing, no song rocking her on. Her heart skipped a beat. Her breath caught. _I can’t breathe!_ Jay was walking towards the door, and every step he took brought pain stabbing through her. She slumped to the ground and Nya crouched beside her, “Leah, what’s wrong?” Jay rushed back, his eyes widened, “Wait, were you being serious about your soul being in the IPod? Because you can keep it if that’s the case.”

Leah snatched the IPod and clicked a song, _Sweetest Devotion_ by Adele. The moment the song sang out into the empty air the pain evaporated and she heaved a sigh of relief. “Okay, I’m not letting this stop you. How about this- you get Cole away from the others and I’ll tag along, secretly of course, so that way I won’t die or anything weird. We’ll figure out what happened later.” She stood up and gave the IPod back to Jay. A ripple of throbbing passed through her but she ignored it. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Although he looked slightly nervous, Jay turned away and led the way out of the bedroom. _Time to go into stealth mode, Elder Scrolls style._ Leah crouched and then tuck-and-rolled behind a wall. Jay was walking across the great hall to Cole, who was searching the couches for the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. As she waited she thought about what had happened with her IPod. _How is that even possible? Why would that hurt me?_ Was it that she’d been listening to music for so long that her body physically needed it now? _I don’t think that’s how science or whatever works._ Leah sang the lyrics to _The Power_ in her head. The aching in her body dulled. _Okay, that’s weird. I’m physically dependant on music. Do I die when I’m without it for too long?_

Cole and Jay were coming her way, chatting in a relaxed way. She hid behind a curtain as they passed by. The Earth Ninja was speaking, “-were the owners of this place, I think I would hide the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon in the attic, because that’s where nobody ever goes-” His voice faded as they walked farther down the corridor from the great hall towards the stairs. Leah continued her following once they’d disappeared onto the second floor, pushing through the pain. _Maybe I should let myself die._ She pushed the thought away. _No, don’t think that._

She made it up the stairs, taking in heaving breaths. _Gotta keep going._ They were much farther away- she could hear Jay’s faint humming of _Tiptoe_. _Good, that’s a great way to lead into random singing together._ They were pulling down the stairs to the attic and Cole was smiling at Jay, the subject changing to Imagine Dragons. Leah was now close enough to hear Cole talking, “-since I was twelve. Their music is so good! How long have you been a fan?”

Jay blushed, “Since I was fourteen. I’m not as big of a fan as you. I just buy their albums on the occasion when I feel like it. But I love their songs! Especially _Underdog_ , it’s just so upbeat and has a good tone.”

If Cole hadn’t fallen for Jay, he _must’ve_ the moment that last sentence fell from Jay’s lips. The Earth Ninja looked at him as if the Lightning Ninja were finally standing in the light of day. “That’s been my favorite song _forever_.” They started up to the attic and their voices became too distant. Leah darted over, staying close to the walls. It wasn’t helping that she was wearing dark purple against a red wall. Being careful not to make a sound, Leah hoisted herself up the ladder and into the attic, skittering across the ground into one of the four corners. Jay and Cole were searching the room, although Jay paused to put _Tiptoe_ on. Cole smiled at that and started singing along. “ _In the morning light let my roots take flight, watch me from above like a vicious dove. They don’t see me come, who can blame them? They never seem to catch my eye, but I never wondered why._ ”

Jay joined in, “ _I won’t fall asleep, I won’t fall asleep. Hey yeah, don’t let ‘em know we’re coming. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Take some time to simmer down, keep your head down low. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. From your slanted view see the morning dew, sink into the soil, watch the water boil. They won’t see me run, who can blame them? They never look to see me fly, so I never have to lie._

The two start dancing together, grins spread wide across their faces. “ _I won’t fall asleep, I won’t fall asleep. Hey yeah, don’t let ‘em know we’re coming. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Take some time to simmer down, keep your head down low. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Nobody else, nobody else. Nobody else can take me higher, nobody else can take me higher, nobody else can take me higher, nobody else._

“ _Hey yeah, don’t let ‘em know we’re coming. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Take some time to simmer down, keep your head down low. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Hey yeah, don’t let ‘em know we’re coming. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher. Take some time to simmer down, keep your head down low. Hey yeah, tiptoe higher._ ”

It really touched Leah’s heart to see them dancing together, and the pain she was going through suddenly seemed completely worth it. Jay and Cole suddenly realized that they were standing in an attic holding each others’ hands after dancing and singing. The Lightning Ninja blushed dark red and took in a deep breath. “That was… fun!”

Cole laughed good-naturedly, “Definitely. You have a great singing voice, by the way.”

“I-I do?” Jay couldn’t possibly be any redder in the face.

"Yeah,” the ninja in brown and black leaned closer, hesitantly. Jay seemed to pick up on this and stood on his tip-toes, as he was very short, to kiss Cole. They stood for about ten long seconds like this before Jay stepped away. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I should probably leave, I shouldn’t have done-” he was interrupted as Cole pulled him back and kissed him again.

Leah grinned from her hiding spot, bearing through her agony.

After a few more moments Cole drew back, “I’m glad you did.”

Just then, Nya’s head poked out from the floor, on the ladder. “Guys, Kai and Skylor found the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon! Whoa, am I interrupting something?” She winked at Leah subtly, and Leah had to hold in a chuckle.

“No,” Cole shook his head, “We’ll be right down.”

Nya ducked back down and the creaking of the ladder told them that she was leaving. Jay looked up at Cole, “Cole, I- I really, _really_ like you, and since you kissed me I think you might too? Look, what I’m trying to say is that I- I would- I was thinking-”

“-That you want me to be your boyfriend?” Cole finished.

“Y-Yeah, that’s what I was getting at.”

“Of _course_ I will. There’s nothing I’d like more.”

The pain was starting to become unbearable, but there was no way of telling Jay that without alerting Cole to her presence. Luckily, Jay and Cole made for the ladder out, and on the way down Jay left the IPod on the floor. When they were all the way down Leah snatched it and a wave of healthiness swirled around her. It felt so good to touch it. Plugging her earbuds in, she put on _Catchy Song_ , relishing its upbeat and earworm tune. Then, after making sure the coast was clear, Leah made her way after Jay and Cole.

She found the rest of the ninja team waiting for her in some bedroom. It must’ve been Garmadon’s or Wu’s, as there were shelves of toys and the like stocking the shelves and drawers of the room. At the other side of the room was a giant red-and-brown casket. Zane pointed it out to her, “We think the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is in that box!”

Garmadon threw the lid off to reveal a smaller chest inside with the letters u-u-w engraved into it. _Well, this must be it._ Lifting the lid, they all gasped- when they saw just some random brick pieces inside. Nya rolled her eyes, “What a bunch of junk.”

Jay grinned, “Maybe there’s something important under it?” They dumped the contents on the floor- nothing. “This is the Ultimate Ultimate Disappointment.”

Skylor crossed her arms, “Well, looks like we traveled all this way for nothing. Now there’s no way to defeat Meowthra. I quote; ‘honey, you got a big storm coming’.” She snapped her fingers like the woman in the vine does.

“No, wait,” Lloyd picked up one of the bricks- a fire piece. “There’s a piece for each of our elements- fire.” He handed it to Kai, who held it out in front of himself. Red light shone from within the piece and the Fire Ninja’s eyes widened, “Whoa!”

“And earth.” “This rocks!”

“And water.” “H-two-ohhhh yeah!”

“And ice.” “Cool.”

“And lightning.” “Ahh!”

“And… music?” This startled Leah. Lloyd was holding a triangular chime in his hands. She took it from him along with the metal stick that came with it and struck it. The purest note she’d ever heard rung out through the room, filling her with strength. “I didn’t know I was a real element,” Leah whispered to herself. Lloyd just shrugged and then frowned at the two remaining pieces- wait, two? One was a green branch, and the other was a piece of amber. “Amber?” the Green Ninja picked it up and examined it. “What’s this doing in there?”

“Absorption, dummy,” Skylor swiped it from him. “That would be _my_ element.”

“ _Your_ element?” the rest of the ninja team all asked at the same time.

“Yes,” she scrunched her nose up. “Did you really think Wu would’ve let me on the team if he didn’t know I had an element? I’ve had the power to absorb an ability from someone from the moment I was born. I don’t use it that much, but it comes in handy sometimes.”

They all stared at her for a few moments before Lloyd moved on, taking the green branch. “And I’m… green. But I’m so happy for- for you guys! Yay.”

The pieces were returned to the chest and they made their way back to the great hall. Jay and Cole were holding hands and chatting together, Kai and Skylor were hanging in the back. Zane was examining the artwork they passed by, and Nya sidled up beside Leah. “Hey, now that it turns out Jay’s fine with us being a thing, do you think we should tell everyone else?”

Leah bit her lip, “I don’t want to distract them. How about after we defeat Meowthra. I _promise_ I’ll let you tell them by then. I just want everyone to be on their A-game before facing down a giant fluffy monster.”

After a moment of hesitation, Nya nodded. “Okay, we’ll wait. But I don’t think we should have to be secretive about it. I mean, look at Cole and Jay! They’re being completely obvious about it. If _they_ can act like they’re dating now, we should be able to too.”

“Not _too_ obvious, though, okay? No grabbing me and kissing me passionately.”

“What if you nearly die and then somehow come back to life?”

“…Okay, fine, you can kiss me if I nearly die. That’s not gonna happen, though.”

Nya’s eyes lit up like she’d just received a broken-down motorcycle to fix, “You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I think you’re getting over being suicidal, Leah. I think you’re finally overcoming it.”

“I had a suicidal thought about ten minutes ago.”

“Well, at least that’s not… _nine_ minutes ago, right?”

“…Right.”

Leah then bumped into Garmadon, who had started to back away from Lloyd. She was surprised to find that the evil warlord was holding the Ultimate Ultimate Chest (which was what she was calling the container) instead of Lloyd. Lloyd was pleading with Garmadon, “Come back to Ninjago City with me and save the city, you’ll be a hero!”

Garmadon edged away from Leah, “But that’s not who I am, Luh-Lloyd! People would never see me as a hero.”

“But it doesn’t have to be this way,” the rest of the ninja crept behind Lloyd, blocking the only way out. “This is your chance to make a change!”

“I didn’t want it to be this way either, but here we are.”

“Dad, please, don’t go.”

“If I couldn’t change then, what makes you think I could change now?” The ninja had surrounded him by now and he realized this, using the Ultimate Ultimate Chest to knock Zane and Cole on their backs. Kai tried to rip the chest away but was back-handed. Nya leapt into the fray only to be given a straight left to the jaw. Garmadon tried running around the group of ninja but Skylor expertly flung her arm at his throat at the same time as she slipped the chest out of his grip. Garmadon went face-first onto the floor and Skylor threw the chest to Jay, who tripped and sent the chest to Lloyd. Leah hung back, knowing she was no good in a fight, but made her way to the double doors anyway. Lloyd, holding the chest, continued to beg, “I can help you, we can do it together!”

Kai dived at Garmadon, who ducked and sent him sailing into the opposite wall. “If you just give me the box, we can talk about it.”

“I can’t, you’ll just leave-” Lloyd’s legs were flipped out from beneath him as Garmadon slid across the great hall and kicked him. Nya grabbed the chest, then handed it over the Cole, who threw it to Zane. _Baseball, leveled up._ It went to Kai and then back to Nya, who started running towards Lloyd, who now stood in front of Leah. “Lloyd, catch it!” The chest went flying through the air, just short of Lloyd. Lloyd ran towards it, his arms outstretched, and… tripped, fell on his stomach, the chest sliding away from him. The rest of the ninja team all moaned in disappointment, and Garmadon swooped over and stole the chest. “Oh, Luh-Lloyd- I should have taught you how to catch.” He then shoved Leah aside and made it outside, slamming the doors. They all heard the loud _click_ of a key turning. Leah started to tremble, her heart skipping a beat. _We’re all locked in here with nothing to eat but plastic fruit. We’re all gonna die. Nobody can stop Garmadon now from taking over Ninjago City for good._ She felt an arm wrap around her, and she knew it was Nya. “What’re we gonna do?” she whispered to her girlfriend. Nya sighed, “I don’t know.”

The temple then shook, dust falling from the support beams above them. Bits of the wall and roof caved in, blocking the door. Leah screamed and covered her head as bits of wood rained down on her. Nya held her close protectively. Jay was panicking, “Get outta the way! This whole thing is coming down!” He dived beneath a table.

Cole hurried over to his new boyfriend, “We don’t have those pieces!”

Kai dodged a chandelier that dropped from the ceiling, “Yeah, and we don’t even have our mechs!”

Skylor threw her hands up in the air, “Anybody got any bright ideas?”

Leah and Nya crouched together beneath Jay and Cole’s table. “Lloyd, you gotta get some protection!” Leah shouted to her brother, as he was standing in the middle of the room where anything could easily kill him. _We’re all gonna die._ Instead of responding, Lloyd started muttering to himself before shouting, “INNER PIECE! Guys, guys we don’t need those pieces! The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is inside of you! Yes, you have the power. Look within, harness what you already have inside and let it out! I believe in each of you. Nya, you can create water. Kai, you can make fire. The power is inside of all of you. Now, calm your mind, concentrate. Build up your powers. Just think about earth, fire, water, ice, music, uh, amber!”

The ninja team crept from their hiding places and started to doing Master Wu’s favorite martial art move, Spinjitzu. Leah ran through the moves, only half expecting anything to happen. What could music possibly do as an element? It was just sound. Lloyd went up to Jay, “And you, Jay, lightning baby, do it! Jay, you got the power! Say ‘I’ve got the power’!”

Jay started to tremble with energy as lightning surged its way to the surface. His feet lifted from the ground and he shouted, “I’ve got the power!” His element ran up and down his body, as if he were Thor. He shot the bolts of lightning at the door, causing it to explode into a million pieces. He led the way with the others following him. They made it to the front porch when a huge section of the roof came sliding towards them. Cole shoved everyone aside, “I’ve got the power!” The Earth Ninja thumped his fists together like the Whammer from _Wordgirl_ , sending a mobile earthquake upwards that destroyed the roof piece before it could crush them.

They then rushed down the stairs, only stopping when a giant piece of the stairs broke off, leaving a giant gap between them and where they needed to be. Nya and Zane stepped forward together, using the powers to create an ice slide. One by one the ninja team slid down to the remaining stairs. One of the giant lion heads snapped off its statue and came rolling towards them. Lloyd looked back, “Kai, your turn.”

“Got it!” Kai waved his hands, fireballs flickering to life. “I’ve got the power!” He shot beams of fire at the lion head, but it continued rolling towards them. “I THINK I MADE IT WORSE!” Leah looked back, knowing the only possible way this was gonna end. _We’re gonna die._ And because she’d never tried it and she’d always wanted to, Leah screamed at the very top of her lungs- the loudest scream she’d ever screamed.

The lion head shuttered before shattering like glass. The rest of the ninja covered their ears as Leah’s voice reverberated throughout the cliff. The mountain shook harder. Leah stopped, seeing that the lion head danger was gone and Nya patted her shoulder. “Good job, Leah!”

 _I’ve got the power!_ The song by Queen, _Don’t Stop Me Now_ , started playing on her earbuds and she sang along to it. “ _Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time. I feel alive and the world I’ll turn it inside out, yeah, and floating around in ecstasy. So don’t stop me now don’t stop me, ‘cause I’m having a good time, having a good time._ ”

“Guys,” Lloyd shouted, standing on the cliff edge, “I can hear the dead, and Master Wu says to jump!” He jumped off the edge and into the abyss below. “LLOYD!” Leah screamed, not as loud as before of course but still pretty loudly. She charged over and leapt after him, not thinking of the consequences. But instead of falling to her death, Leah was surprised to land face first onto the deck of the _Destiny’s Bounty_. And out of the entire population of Ninjago, Master Wu stood at the wheel. The other ninja landed beside her, in more dignified positions. Nya helped her up, “You okay, Leah?”

“Annnnd I think I broke my nose.”

Master Wu spoke into a loudspeaker attached to the ship’s wheel. “Great jump, students!”

“MASTER WU!” everyone said in unison. Lloyd beamed, “You’re alive!”

The old man rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner, “Of course, I’m a ninja master who lives life on the edge and cheats death at every turn.” Everyone gasped in awe and Nya asked, “Really?”

“ _No_. I thought being dead would make you listen to me more. And I was right!”

Jay then raised his hand, jumping up and down like a little kid. “Master Wu, we found our elemental powers!” Cole stepped up beside him, grabbing his hand, “All because Lloyd wouldn’t give up on our training.”

“Lloyd saved us!” Nya punched Lloyd’s shoulder softly. Zane grinned, saying in a dead-pan tone, “He also decoded your needlessly cryptic metaphors!”

Master Wu smiled down on the Green Ninja. “Lloyd, I’m so proud of you. You helped your friends be great, and that makes you truly a ninja master. Now, let’s go save the city from the giant kitty!” As he revved the engines and the ship started sailing through the air, he looked down at Skylor, “So, did you finally inform them of your element?”

“Well, I had to in the end,” Skylor replied nonchalantly, leaning against the railing of the _Bounty_. “They weren’t smart enough to figure it out themselves, so I told them when Lloyd found a piece of amber with the other pieces in that chest we found, which Garmadon still thinks is the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon.”

“Yeah, uh,” Leah cleared her throat, “About our elements- you knew mine was real the whole time?”

Master Wu studied her closely before replying. “I knew there was something different about you for a while. Then I noticed that you were never without your IPod- literally, never. I started to think you may have a problem and was just going to talk to Koko about it when I realized _why_. As the Music Ninja, you are tied to sounds and songs. Since you’ve been listening to songs from that very IPod for nearly four years now, your element has become mentally and physically attached to it; essentially, it is your life force and the source of your powers. Without it you will be crippled and powerless. Some elements require being tied down, or risk becoming out of control. Music is one of them, as everyone owns music. Music is in every sound, and every sound is heard differently by every person. Music can control; music can create; music can destroy. With those in mind, music is much too powerful for one person alone without any help to be able to control.”

Nya put her arms around Leah’s waist. “That’s sounds pretty cool,” the Water Ninja rested her chin on Leah’s shoulder. “Cooler than water, at least.”

Skylor walked past them, “Warmer than absorption, though.”

The three girls laughed together for a few moments, enjoying each others’ company. Leah’s face was lit up by a smile. _Maybe we’re not gonna die. Maybe I’ll be with Nya forever, maybe I’ll have my friends forever. Maybe things aren’t so bad._

_Maybe dying isn’t such a good idea._


	9. "Heroes"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, they've made it home, but they still have some stuff to take care of.

The _Destiny’s Bounty_ arrived at Ninjago City about two hours later. Nya and Leah were standing together at the bow of the ship, watching as they passed over fallen skyscrapers. Meowthra had ravaged, and was still ravaging, the place. _Are we too late?_ Far off on the coast she could see the people evacuating onto boats, getting ready to go to the Other Island, where Garmadon was said to have come from. _I know better now._

Just then, jellyfish subs started flying their way. Master Wu gripped the wheel as the ninja gathered on the deck, “We have company- hold on tight!” He spun the wheel left and they went upside down. He then directed them underneath a bridge, where they all clung to the masts. When the subs had passed Lloyd took control, “All right, ninja, follow me!” They let go of their holds and landed on the street below. Leah landed perfectly on her feet, thankful for watching those movies on fighting from the generals’ base. Her IPod started playing one of her favorite songs, a song written by some guy who loved the ninja team, called _Heroes_.

Lloyd looked over at Nya, “Nya, we need to get to Garmadon and that cat fast.”

“You got it!” Nya high-fived Leah and then dived off the bridge they were on. The ninja gathered on her shoulders like they were doing an insane cheerleading routine as she walked on the water below, Master Wu using his bamboo hat and staff to follow close behind. Once they made it to the next bridge they climbed onto it, sopping wet. _Dang it, now I’m gonna have to wash this._ The ninja team was then faced with the advancing forces of the Shark Army. There were soldiers on foot and piranha things.

“Zane,” Lloyd ordered, “Freeze these guys up!”

“Copy,” Zane did as he was instructed and created an ice wall between them and their enemies. Lloyd then yelled to Kai, “Kai, make a smoke screen!”

Kai leaped into the air, “Yeah, baby! _Fuego_!” Shooting beams of fire, the ice melted into smoke, making it nearly impossible to see. Leah was grabbed by Nya and dragged along, dodging the Shark Army forces and doing it like real ninja.

Once out of the smoked area, they continued on towards Garmadon, who could be seen just a little bit farther away. Lloyd looked over at Jay, “Jay, now’s your chance, buddy!” Jay grinned, “Roger that!” He went farther ahead and zoomed into the air, shooting lightning everywhere and destroying all of Garmadon’s airships. Cole, meanwhile, separated off and caused a minor earthquake, shattering most of the crab mechs and piranhas. Skylor used all of the ninjas’ elements expertly, fighting off tons on her own. Leah was running alongside Nya and Lloyd when suddenly she was snatched by a lone jellyfish sub that had survived Jay. “I’ve got you now, Music Ninja!” the Shark Army soldier inside cackled. Leah took in a huge breath and sang out, “ _Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time! I’m having a ball, don’t stop me now! If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call! Don’t stop me now, ‘cause I’m having a good time! Don’t stop me now, yes I’m havin’ a good time!_ ”

The Shark Army soldier stopped what she was doing and then placed Leah back on the ground. “I will not stop you,” she said in a monotone. Leah whooped before rejoining the team. Garmadon’s voice carried down from the broken highway above them. “Hey, cat, back off!” The cat was sniffing him while he threw the worthless pieces at it. “I’m Garmadon, baby! I’m the greatest warlord of all-” And then the cat swallowed him whole.

 _Ohhhh-kay then._ Lloyd’s eyes widened, “Dad?” He then took off and the rest of the team followed. They reconvened in front of the evacuating people, who the cat was sitting in front of now. Garmadons voice could be heard even from inside the cat, “Luh-Lloyd! Please help me!” The people though, were cheering the ninja to destroy the cat, to solve all their problems. It hurt Leah’s head. _They want to kill the cat! They want to kill me, Leah Garmadon, too. They shouldn’t. Killing is so, so wrong._ A headache started to evolve and she groaned. Skylor put a hand on her shoulder, understanding. “We’ll figure this out,” she said quietly.

The cat sat back nervously, its eyes slightly fearful. _It won’t hurt us- it looks a little guilty, actually!_ It was really a cute kitty. Kai was brainstorming, “Oh, I can use my fire. But is that too much?” _Yes, that is_ so _too much!_ Nya gave her brother a dark glare before suggesting, “Or I could blast him with my water. Cats hate water!”

Lloyd exchanged a glance with Leah before looking back at Master Wu, who had joined the bystanders. “You were right, Master Wu,” he called out. “I need to walk the path that only the son of Garmadon can walk.” He then strode forward, towards the cat, and whipped his hood off, revealing himself as Lloyd Garmadon to the population of Ninjago. Everyone gasped in complete, utter shock. Jay started getting nervous at Lloyd’s sudden decision, “Uh, all we have to do is scare off Meowthra and we’ve won!”

The Green Ninja shook his head, “No.”

“WHAT?”

“Uh, Lloyd,” Kai frowned, “Where are you going?”

Leah’s brother continued walking forward. The cat took a slight step away from him, growling quietly. Lloyd made cooing noises to it, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.” The cat hesitated before slowly prowling up to him. “Yeah, come here. That’s a good kitty. You’re okay, yeah, you’re okay.” He lifted his hand towards the giant kitty, and it sniffed him, blowing his hair every which-way. “Yeah, yeah, that’s a good kitty. What a sweet, sweet kitty.” It finally let him touch its nose, and he petted it gently. “Everything’s gonna be just fine. Hey, I know it. I know it, you don’t mean to destroy everything. When uh… when people look at you, they see a monster. But I know that you just- you just feel scared and alone. I know how that feels… to be judged unfairly. So, um… I just wanna say that I forgive you, and… I’m sorry. When I said, ‘I wish you weren’t my father’.” Leah realized he was no longer talking to the cat. “I didn’t really mean it. What I should’ve said is, I wish we didn’t fight all of the time. And that- I just- I wish I could’ve spent more time with you, and that you could’ve seen, like, everything I’ve been through, but- but you weren’t there. And that- I- I just wish we could get that time back.” His voice started to waver and Leah could see tears welling up in his eyes. “I need my dad, I- I just need my dad.”

And on that wonderful note, the cat started retching. Lloyd scrambled back as Garmadon went flying from the cat’s mouth and onto the road, covered in slime. “Dad?” Lloyd whispered, running to Garmadon’s side. “Are you okay?”

Garmadon laid an arm over his face, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re alive!” Lloyd threw himself on his father.

“Son?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you mean all that stuff you said, to the cat?”

“Heh, heh, every word.”

“Well, I know for a fact that the _cat_ feels exactly the same way.” Garmadon sniffed loudly and rubbed his hand against his eyes. Lloyd furrowed his eyes in disbelief, “Dad, are you crying?” Garmadon shook his head fiercely, however much the lava tears spilling down his face denied it, “No! It’s just that I’m kind of allergic to cats!” he broke down sobbing. Lloyd helped him onto his feet only to get tackled by Koko. Koko squeezed Lloyd tight, “Lloyd! Let me, let me look at you, let me look at you, are you hurt? Let me see your fingers and toes. Okay, you still don’t have fingers and toes, that’s good! Is everything okay?”

Lloyd, having survived the first wave of ‘The Mom’, managed to get over his initial shock. “I’m- I’m fine, I’m good.”

“Lloyd, I was so worried about you!”

“Mom, wait. I’m, uh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m just so happy you’re all right.”

“No, Mom, I’m really sorry. I took you for granted. All you ever did was support me- the real me. The person I am on the inside. I’m really sorry, Mom.”

Koko blinked before smiling and giving him a gentler hug, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Lloyd hugged her back. Leah started to cry herself. _Oh, Lloyd. You’ve finally sorted everything out. But have_ I _sorted everything out?_ She felt her feet carrying her to Garmadon and she threw her hood on the ground. Her revelation didn’t get as much of a gasp from the crowd as Lloyd’s, but a couple people whispered. “Hey, uh, Garmadon,” the Music Ninja put her hands on her hips. “I gotta admit, you’ve made some good jokes.”

Garmadon raised an eyebrow, “Are you okay with me being your dad?”

“No,” Leah shook her head. “Not yet, at least. Unlike Lloyd, I haven’t been yearning for a dad from the moment I was separated from you. I’ve been fine with Mom and my friends. How about this; we’re friends, for now. Just because you made me doesn’t mean you get to step in and say, ‘why hello there I’m your dad now’. You’re going to have to work extremely hard to get that title. But I do like you. Just give it time.”

He crossed his arms, “Alright, Leah. We can take it slower.”

Leah then turned away, to Koko and Lloyd. They had apparently been watching her exchange with Garmadon. Leah took Koko’s hand, “Hey, Mom, Nya and I are dating now, and Jay knows. He’s actually dating Cole now.”

Koko beamed, “Oh, honey, that’s great news! I’m so happy for you. Remember, we still have that one-on-one day with each other.”

“Haha, yeah,” Leah replied. “But, uh, I’ve been meaning to tell you something… for a few years now. I’ve been uh… more hated by the other school kids than Lloyd. One of them told me when I was thirteen that I should jump off a bridge. I have made an attempt on my own life four times since Lloyd’s birthday, if I’m counting correctly. I’ve had suicidal thoughts since that person told me that. I should’ve told you a while ago so I could get help, I just… I don’t know. I didn’t want you to freak out and worry over me because I thought I was worthless. I still kinda think that, actually. I don’t want to lie to you anymore, though.”

Her mother put a hand to her mouth before embracing Leah in a bear hug. “Leah, I’m so sorry. This is my fault, I should’ve seen the signs. I knew you were keeping something from me, I just didn’t want to pry-”

“No, Mom,” Leah murmured. “None of it was your fault. It could never be your fault.”

Master Wu approached them and gazed proudly at Lloyd. The Green Ninja grinned, “Uncle Wu, I know why you wanted me to be the Green Ninja.”

“Oh, you do?”

“Yeah. Green is the color of life. It flows through all living things, connecting them all, the way I connect the ninja. Or the way I connect my family, whether we’re together or not.”

The old man nodded, “Some powers are ones you cannot see, but those are the most important powers of all.”

“Besides music, of course,” Leah jibbed, causing the whole family to laugh. The rest of the ninja team came over and Nya kissed Leah’s cheek. “Right as always, baby. You have the best element of them all.”

Cole, Zane, and Kai stared at the two as if they had turned into aliens, while Jay was glowing with pride of his early knowledge of their relationship. Skylor smirked at Master Wu, “Hey, if I’ve absorbed Lloyd’s power, then that makes me even cooler than him because I have everyone else’s powers, right?”

Master Wu rolled his eyes, “And that, my students, is called cheating.”

Kai grinned nervously, “She’s right, though. Technically, she’s even more special than Lloyd is. I also think that makes her a clear pick to become part of the team. She could be the… Amber Ninja?”

Lloyd shrugged, “Sounds good to me.”

The newly named Amber Ninja hesitated, and then smiled. “Okay, sure.”

As everyone chatted amongst themselves, Leah let herself become relaxed by Nya’s arms around her. _This… this is my family. These people support me, love me, and accept me. One day I’ll be able to say I’m clean from suicidal thoughts, but for now… this is enough._


	10. "Found My Place"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nya and Leah spend the day together, seeing friends and enjoying each others' company.

**3 months later:**

Leah’s alarm went blaring off. She’d changed it a week after Meowthra had been stopped from destroying Ninjago City to a song she wrote herself, called _Found My Place_. Being the Music Ninja, she was able to sing in a male voice because what the heck, she wanted to.

“ _It feels so right, I’m where I belong ‘cause I found my place, I found my place, hi-ya! What a ride, I knew I was strong, now I found my place, I found my place_!” Like always, Leah slammed her hand on her phone to stop it from continuing. Lloyd grumbled from the dark depths of his bed and Leah slipped down quietly, quickly getting her IPod and putting on music- _I Found You_ , to be specific. Grabbing a new set of clothes, she made her way to the bathroom where she slipped them on and headed out of the apartment.

Ninjago City was rebuilt by now; the people had gotten together and worked until everything was fixed. Of course, the Master Builders from Syspocalypseburg had been of some help, but everybody liked to think they contributed a lot. That lady- what was her name, Prenny? Something like that- nobody liked remembering. _Boy, she was bossy!_ There was a reason she wasn’t in the movies. Anyways, when Ninjago City was being rebuilt and everything, a nice woman named Wyldstyle had helped Nya, Koko, and Leah build a new academy for the fired generals and current soldiers of Garmadon. It had taken a while to get all the applicants together, but it had worked. Now Leah was heading over, since it was Saturday, to help out Nya and Koko.

As she walked to the academy, the good people of Ninjago waved and said hello to her. Things had changed in the past three months; people actually _liked_ her. And nowadays her locker wasn’t covered in sticky notes filled with hate, but with love. The day, about a month before, when she’d removed the ‘jump off a bridge’ note had been one of the most important moments of her life. It was so satisfying to be finally free of it. No longer did she want to kill herself.

The academy had just been unlocked when Leah arrived. Koko was inside in her old Lady Iron Dragon armor, sorting through files. “Oh, there you are!” the ginger-haired woman smiled at her daughter. “Where’s Lloyd?”

“Still asleep,” Leah shrugged. “Don’t worry, he’ll be here for the tour by noon. I hope.”

“Leah!” Nya swooped out of nowhere and gave her a big kiss on the lips. “How’s the coolest ninja in the world?”

Leah took her hand, “Great, especially now that she’s seen her amazing girlfriend.” She then studied Nya closer. Her eyelashes were darker; her lips were redder- was she wearing makeup? “Did you get all pretty for me or is there something I’m forgetting?”

“I wanna take you on a special date tonight,” Nya admitted. “It’s to this awesome sushi place that I just _know_ you’ll love! It’ll be on me. Can I treat the cutest girl in the world?”

“You _always_ say that,” Leah giggled. “How about we go to this sushi place and then I take you to the first Powell’s Bookstore that’s ever been opened anywhere but Portland? Then I’ll buy you any book you want there. I know you’ve been looking for _Of Fire and Stars_.”

“Yes!” Nya cheered. “It’s a date, then!”

Koko laughed at the two of them. “You girls have fun- I’ll take care of things here. I’m sure Lloyd can survive a day without his twin. Actually, why don’t you go now, spend the day together? You need to relax after working so hard here.”

The two exchanged glances before shouting their agreement and taking off. Nya then screeched to a halt when they’d reached about a block away from the academy. “Oh, I can’t just go out with you in my ninja gi. Can we stop at my house so I can get changed?”

Leah nodded, “Sure, if you want to.” She herself was wearing casual clothes- her signature black leather jacket, a purple shirt, and ripped jeans. Nya led the way down a couple more streets until she reached her and Kai’s house, which Leah now thought of as her second home. Opening the door, they found Kai in the living room. Ray and Maya, their parents were obviously out at work. The living room consisted of two couches, one red and one blue, three chairs, and a TV. Kai was flipping through channels, obviously trying to find the one that played his favorite TV show, _Once Upon a Time_. Apparently, the show was midway through its last season. Leah waved to him as they passed, “Hey, Kai.”

“Oh, hey!” he gave her his usual friendly grin. “How long are you guys staying?”

“Just a few minutes,” Nya called out as she went into her room. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave before Skylor arrives.” Quieter, as so only Leah would hear, she whispered, “Sheesh, the moment he gets his first girlfriend he thinks he owns the house. _I_ got a girlfriend _first_.”

Leah waited outside while Nya changed and she grinned when the Water Ninja came out. “Nice outfit, so sleek.” Nya was wearing a long silver dress with her own black leather jacket and black high-heeled knee-high boots. “Now I feel like _I_ should dress up.”

“Nah,” Nya tapped Leah’s nose. “I just feel girly today. You’re always more relaxed when you’re in casual wear.”

The two left the house and headed out into the city. The day was slightly cloudy, with a hint of a chill from the breeze. They passed by so many interesting shops of different shapes, sizes, and colors. Vehicles of every kind zoomed past them on the road. Ninjago City was self-sustaining, other than by the food that was shipped in from farms that dotted the rest of Ninjago, so nobody ever needed to leave the city. If you were a city person, it was _the_ place to live forever and ever and ever.

Leah was so happy to be on a walk. She’d managed to get Nya on more walks since they’d started dating, but still everybody else thought walks were boring. They never experienced the city life like she did, though. It was a price that they paid. _Welcome to New York_ started playing on her IPod. She hummed to the words, her thoughts straying. _Ah… the city is so nice today. A perfect day to be out!_

They ended up at one of Leah’s old favorite playgrounds. She ran over to the swings and kicked her legs back and forth. Nya joined her and they soared back and forth, back and forth, the wind whipping through their hair. It was so nice just to _exist_ , just to _be_ , just to _live_. Leah didn’t take life for granted anymore. It truly was a blessing. To be able to interact with other people, to try new things, to achieve feats that change the world for the better- that’s living. And Leah _loved_ living.

Eventually, they left the playground and headed off to find Cole and Jay, who’d told everyone to, quote, ‘not bother them at the ahem roller skating rink ahem because they would hate that ahem’.

It was _clearly_ an invitation.

The rolling skating rink wasn’t far- only on the complete other side of town. They rode the bus there and the moment they entered Cole yelled from somewhere, “ _Finally_ , somebody decides to show up!” He and Jay were sitting off on one of the benches outside the rink, putting on their skates. After Nya and Leah got skates from the counter they joined their two friends. Leah rolled her eyes, “Well, you do realize that it takes a while to get here, right?”

Jay looked Nya up and down, “You’re gonna skate in a dress?”

Nya crossed her arms, “Is that a challenge?” It was a known fact that out of the entire high school Jay and Nya were the best skaters. They’d always had a rivalry, although secretly Leah knew that Jay had more talent. Obviously, she never said this. Jay and Nya quickly went into the rink, while Cole and Leah tied on their skates more slowly. Cole smiled at Leah, “So, how’ve you been doing? You skipped school yesterday.”

Leah laughed, “Yeah, not my fault. There was an emergency at the academy. I’ve been doing pretty good- oh, and I just got Taylor Swift’s new album, _Reputation_.”

Cole nodded, “I heard some people hate it and some people love it. I don’t listen to her music myself- I’m more of an Imagine Dragons fan.”

“I know you are.”

“I know you know I am.”

They laughed for a few moments before Leah asked, “So, I haven’t asked in a while- how’s it been going with Jay? I know the answer’s probably obvious, but I like checking in with you two.”

“It’s been good,” the Earth Ninja replied. “We get along really well. We like a lot of the same things but like enough different things that it’s interesting. He’s something special, all right. I can’t believe it took us so long to get together. I absolutely love him.”

Leah thought about it for a moment, “Well, if all four of us had been straight, I think it would’ve ended up being you and me and those two together. Good thing we’re not straight, right?” They laughed again comfortably, watching Jay and Nya compete on the rink. Nya was only a foot behind Jay, even though she was in a dress. “I’m glad it happened the way it did,” Cole murmured, his eyes set on Jay. Then he straightened, “Well, let’s get out there, shall we?”

The two slowly made their way onto the slippery white floor of the rink. A moment later Jay and Nya blazed past them, along with five other random people. Leah grinned, “Well, I’m glad Kai isn’t here, or he’d be complaining about how bad he is on skates!”

“And Skylor would be showing him up,” Cole agreed. Leah took a few more steps before sliding into her skating groove, gliding across the rink. Nya slowed and matched the Music Ninja’s pace, “Whew, I have to admit, Jay’s good! How, I don’t know.”

“He said he once competed in the mother-son skate-off and got first place.”

“Does that mean he went up against his mom or other teams with his mom?”

“I have no idea.”

The four of them stayed at the skating rink for a couple hours, racing against each other and relaxing in general. Eventually, Leah and Nya said their good-byes and left to head down to the new Powell’s Bookstore. They took the bus and arrived about ten minutes later on the front steps. The building was _huge_ \- Leah could only imagine the hundreds of thousands of books that waited inside.

They made their way inside, finding hundreds of people scanning the shelves. Leah squealed and ran to the customer service desk with Nya, since she had no idea what the layout of the place was. The employee had their back turned, but when Nya cleared her throat they looked up- and it was none other than Zane!

“Zane!” Leah’s eyes widened in surprise. “You work here?”

Zane smiled, “Yes, I do. I could not resist working at one of the largest bookstores in the world. I have read 137 books since I started working here. Is there anything I may help you with?”

Nya leaned on the counter, “How about giving us a map or at least guiding us to the YA section to find _Of Fire and Stars_?”

The Ice Ninja stood up from his chair and walked out from behind the counter, “Considering I have nothing else to do and you are my friends, I would rather show you the way than give you a map.” He led the way down a stairwell and then through a few walkways before gesturing to about fifty bookshelves, “I present the YA section.”

The two girls darted away to find different books. Nya separated off from Leah about two long shelves in and Leah went off to the LGBTQ+ section. The first book that caught her eye was one called _The Music of What Happens_. She picked it up, read the inside cover jacket, and decided to buy it. _Sounds good enough._ Someone then dangled _Of Fire and Stars_ in front of her face from behind and Leah looked over her shoulder to see Nya’s giddy smile. “Found it?”

“Found it,” the Water Ninja confirmed. “They also have _Inkmistress_.”

“Move outta the way,” Leah skidded past her girlfriend to the next row, a feeling of content filling her at the sight of _Inkmistress_ sitting next to _Of Fire of Stars_. Grabbing a copy, she rejoined Nya. “Any other books you’re looking for?”

“ _Carry On_ ,” Nya admitted. “But I can get that at any bookstore.”

Tapping Nya’s nose, Leah grinned, “Nope, it’s on me. C’mon- that one’s by Rainbow Rowell, right? Man, she’s such a good author.”

Zane then popped out of nowhere, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“GAH!” they both yelled, and the Ice Ninja shushed them. Leah crossed her arms, “Yeah, we did. Did you have a particular reason for scaring the well-earned wits out of us, or did you just want to see our reactions?”

He hesitated and then answered in a not-helpful way, “I am a wild teen.”

After searching for _Carry_ On, they went back to the main counter and bought the three books before heading out. The sun was starting to go down and Nya suggested they head over to the sushi place. “It’ll be dark by the time we get there,” she’d said, convincing Leah.

The sushi place was a small establishment. Only a few people were seated at the other tables, and they got a nice, quiet table in a secluded corner. They were quickly approached by one of the employees. This particular employee looked quite strange; large blue eyes, long thin nose, and ragged green eyes. She looked down her long nose at them, “Whaddya want ta order?”

“Sushi,” Leah replied. “Isn’t that the only thing you guys serve?”

The lady’s blinked a couple times before writing something on the piece of paper that she was clutching in her hand. “Uh-huh. What about you?” she asked Nya, who was twirling the small salt vial on the table. The black-haired teen startled from her very important vial spinning, “Oh, sorry, I’ll get sushi too.” The lady scribbled something and then left. Nya resumed her great interest in getting the perfect spin. Leah laid a hand on the vial, “Stop.”

Nya blushed before putting the vial back and rested her head on Leah’s shoulder. “I’m bored,” the Water Ninja groaned. The Music Ninja paused the song on her IPod and started to whisper-sing _Remember Me_ from the movie _Coco_. “ _Remember me, though I have to say good-bye, remember me, don’t let it make you cry. For even if I’m far away I hold you in my heart, I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart. Remember me, though I have to travel far, remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar. Know that I’m with you the only way that I can be, until you’re in my arms again remember me._

“ _Que nuestra canción no deje de latir, solo con tu amor yo puedo existir. Que nuestra canción no deje de latir, solo con tu amor yo puedo existir. Recuérdame, si en tu mente vivo estoy, recuérdame, mis_ _sueños yo te doy. Te llevo en mi corazón y te acompañaré, unidos en nuestra canción contigo ahi estaré. Recuérdame, si sola crees estar, recuérdame, y mi cantar te irá a abrazar. Aun en la distancia nunca vayas a olvidar, que yo contigo siempre voy recuérdame._

“ _If you close your eyes and let the music play, keep our love alive, I'll never fade away. If you close your eyes and let the music play, keep our love alive, I'll never fade away. If you close your eyes and let the music play, keep our love alive, I'll never fade away. Remember me, for I will soon be gone, remember me, and let the love we have live on. And know that I'm with you the only way that I can be, so until you're in my arms again, remember me._

“ _Que nuestra canción no deje de latir, solo con tu amor yo puedo existir. Que nuestra canción no deje de latir, solo con tu amor yo puedo existir, remember me._ ”

~The End~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this story! If you liked this one, check out my other Ninjago movie story: Find Your Inner Peace! It's already finished, so you won't have to wait on updates.


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